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PEN AND INK PORTRAITS 



SENATORS, ASSEMBLYMEN, 



STATE OFFICERS, 



STATE OF NEW YORK. 



BY G. W. BUNGAY, 

Author of " Crayon Sketches, or Off-Hand Takings," "Nebraska," "The 
Know Nothing," " Pulpit Sketches," etc. 




ALBANY: 

J. MUNSELL, PRINTER, 78 STATE STREET. 

1857. 



PEN AND INK PORTRAITS. 



C. W. ABBOTT, 

The subject of this sketch, was born at Hopkinton, St. Lawrence 
county, July 26th, 1819, and is, consequently, thirty-seven years of 
age. He is a farmer and trader. 

His early political associations were Democratic ; but his democracy 
was of the old Jeffersonian school. He supported Martin Van Buren 
in '48, but when, in '49, the two sections of the democracy united, 
he refused to abandon the flag of freedom, to enlist under the black 
banner of oppression. In '52 he supported John P. Hale for the 
presidency. 

Mr. Abbott was first elected to the Legislature in the fall of '55, and 
served with so much fidelity to his constituents and credit to himself 
that he was unanimously re-nominated, and re-elected by over eighteen 
hundred majority. He is chairman of the committee on engrossed 
bills. 

Mr. Abbott's religion is of the practical kind, consisting of deeds, 
not professions. Firm and decided in his convictions, he can never 
be swerved from what he considers to be right and proper. He was 
a warm supporter of Preston King for United States Senator. 

He is about five feet five inches in height, has a pleasant counten- 
ance — brown hair and brown eyes — seldom speaks in public, but can 
think and work in the harness of liberty. 

Mr. Abbott is the architect and builder of his own fortune. He was 
a poor boy, but owing to his industrious habits has secured a com- 
fortable competency, has been supervisor of the town, justice of the 
peace, &c. 

S. CAREY ADAMS, 

One of the most useful, valuable and trustworthy members of the 
House, represents the Fourth District in Erie county. He was a Whig 
until '48, when he mounted the Buffalo platform, and has ever since 
that time been a Free Soiler. He was six years town superintendent 
of schools in the town of Collins, where he lives, also supervisor of 
the town for two years; also clerk of the board of supervisors two 
years. Last fall he was elected to the Assembly by a majority of four 



hundred votes. He is a member of the committee on Indian affairs, 
also of the sub-committee of the whole. He rarely speaks, but when 
he rises in his place he speaks to some purpose. He attends the 
Methodist church, is a carpenter by trade, has taught school — now fol- 
lows da^uerreotyping. Mr. Adams is thirty-six years of age, is a 
native of Columbia county, a man of ordinary stature, pale com- 
plexion, light blue eyes, brown hair, and a face of transparent hones- 
ty. He is an out-and-out temperance man, and has as much influence 
as a score of men who are bobbing up and down during every session 
of the House. He has a good head on his shoulders, and a brave 
heart in his bosom. He is a self-taught man, having devoted his leisure 
time to study, and takes a deep interest in the great questions of 
the day. 

DARIUS ALLEN, 

The member of the present Legislature, from the city of Troy, county 
of Rensselaer, is a true specimen of what may be attained by in- 
dividual effort and untiring energy. He was born in the city of Troy 
in 1810, of humble parentage, and at the age of four years left an 
orphan; he then went to reside with an uncle, and it may truly be 
said that he was " brought up at the plow tail," being wholly deprived 
of the advantages to be acquired at the then district school. 

Having attained his majority he commenced political life as a De- 
mocrat, and was frequently elected to offices of honor and trust in 
the town where he resided, performing their various duties alike 
creditable to himself and satisfactorily to his constituents. 

Removing to the city of Troy his democratic "faith" would not 
permit him to remain idle, and his " works " for the success of the 
democratic party soon became manifest in his being elected first a 
supervisor and subsequently a member of the common council, al- 
though the ward in which he resided was deemed a stronghold of the 
opposition, and at the election last fall he was elected to represent the 
people of the city of Troy in the Assembly of this state, the records 
of which abundantly show that the industry and attention to legis- 
lative matters consequent upon success, are not wanting in their re- 
presentative. 

Although a Democrat of the " straitest sect ", and a shrewd politi- 
cian, the "pomp and circumstance of glorious war" attracted his at- 
tention at an early day, and he has risen successively from the ranks 
to the position which he now holds, that of brigadier general, com- 
manding the tenth brigade of the military of this state. 

By a strict attention to business and an inflexible integrity which 
secures confidence among men, Gen. Allen stands now the successful 
merchant, an able general and an honorable and upright legislator, 
who has won the esteem of his associates by his ease of address and 
frankness of manner in their associations. 

In person Mr. Allen is well formed, rather above the medium stature, 
has brown hair, blue eyes, a round thoughtful face, the features of 
which indicate earnestness, energy and decision of character. Any 
person can discover at a glance that he is not a man to be trifled with ; 



but he is a true friend who always maiutains the character and dig- 
nity of a gentleman. 

LEONARD AMES 

Comes from Mexico — not that section of North America which has 
been the bone of contention in Congress, but a "smart" town in the 
empire state. He is about thirty years of age; was formerly a Whig 
of the Seward stripe. Luke Smith was his opponent in the late can- 
vass, and it was playfully said that although Luke could play " brag" 
to the best advantage, Leonard would win the game at the ballot-box, 
and the remark is now numbered among the truths told in a joke. 

Mr. Ames is a private banker and farmer of considerable substance, 
and a temperance man from principle. He is a shrewd politician, not 
given to speech-making, and is not expected to become a floor mem- 
ber. He is a man of common size; wears a round, pleasant face; is 
sociable, friendly and agreeable, and will discharge the duties of his 
office with honor to himself and credit to his constituents. This is 
his first appearance in public life. He belongs to a family distinguished 
for their excellent morality and strong common sense. May they ever 
aim at the right, and never miss the mark. 

Mr. Ames is on the committee of insurance. 

JOSEPH ATWATER, 

A name suggestive of good habits — and the good book says that a 
"good name is rather to be chosen than choice silver." Mr. Atwater 
is a native of Homer, Courtland county; was brought up on a farm, 
but has devoted several j T ears of his life to teaching; has been super- 
visor of the town in which he lives; superintendent of common 
schools; justice of the peace, &c. He attends the Congregational 
church ; was formerly a Whig, but now ranks himself with the Re- 
publican army. He is a quiet but industrious member, and hostile to 
all the flam and sham of Buncombe oratory. Mr. Atwater is forty- 
three years of age, of common size and stature; has a round, pleasant 
face, sharp-brown eyes, dark hair and auburn whiskers. He is on the 
committee of engrossed bills and on the joint library committee. 
Of course he is friendly to the temperance movement, or he would 
not be worthy the name he wears. 

TOBIAS BOUCK 

Represents the First District of Schoharie county, where he earned a 
reputation for unswerving integrity and true courage, while acting — 
first as undersheriff, and afterwards sheriff of the county during the 
anti-rent war, when it was as much as a man's life was worth to at- 
tempt to execute the laws. 

He is a Democrat, opposed to the Maine law, a farmer, attends the 
Dutch Reformed church, is fifty years of age, and of common stature; 
his face indicates unyielding firmness and daring courage. He is a 
nephew of Ex-Governor Bouck, and is worthy of the honored name 
he bears. 



6 

Mr. Bouck was born in 1806 in Schoharie county. His father died 
when he was two years of age; when a mere lad he was induced to 
make efforts to improve his mind, working during the summer season 
and studying during the winter months. At the age of sixteen he 
learned a trade ; was married at twenty-four and tried his fortune at 
farming. In 1842 he had the misfortune to lose a large sum of money, 
the accumulated earnings and savings of years of industry and economy; 
but he was not discouraged; like a true hero he commenced the battle 
of life again, and in a few years paid his debts and acquired a hand- 
some estate. He is on the committee of roads and bridges, and on 
internal affairs of towns and counties; is always at his seat, rain or 
shine, and spends much of his time at his desk during the recess be- 
tween the sessions. 

HEZEKIAH BAKER. 

Mr. Baker's father was of English descent and came from Rhode 
Island where his ancestors had lived for a long time before the re- 
volutionary war, about the year 1796, and settled for a short time in 
Rensselaer county, from whence he afterwards removed to the county 
of Montgomery, where the subject of this sketch was born and now 
lives. His mother was of Welch descent, her ancestors having emi- 
grated to the state of New York a little before the revolution. 

Mr. Baker's parents being poor, and having a large family to sup- 
port, gave him away to an uncle by marriage to his father's sister, 
with whom he lived for some four or five years. 

Soon after going to live with his uncle his father died, leaving his 
mother with a large family of children to support, without any means 
to do it with; this occurred before Mr. Baker's recollection, as he 
has no distinct recollection of his father. 

During the time he lived with his uncle he attended a common 
school about two months each winter, acquiring the elements of 
reading, writing and arithmetic, though in quite a limited degree. 

One of the earliest incidents of which Mr. B. has any recollection, 
was a fight on the first day of his attendance at school with a young 
man who had insulted him and attempted to bully him — an incident 
illustrative of one of the predominant traits in his character, resist- 
ence against the overbearing and tyrannical. 

After living with his uncle for four or five years, near Hagaman's 
mills in Montgomery county, he became discontented with his situation 
and prospects, and ran away from his uncle and aunt against their 
wishes, and hired out by the month to work on a farm at stipulated 
wages for some two years, after which he entered into an agree- 
ment with a gentleman to learn the shoemaking trade, by which he 
was to work for three years at wages scarcely sufficient to keep him 
in clothes and without any schooling. He continued at that trade 
for about two years learning with rapidity and ease, but finding he 
had made a hard bargain, and becoming disgusted with the irksome 
monotony of the shop and the subjection of his apprenticeship, made 
a new bargain with his " boss," by which he bought the unexpired 
part of his time at a sum much larger than it should have cost him, 
but which he fully paid and satisfied. 



Having bought and paid for his time and getting a release from his 
" boss," he began the study of the higher branches of English educa- 
tion, and after pursuing the same for a few months commenced teach- 
ing a common school in the county of Fulton. 

At the time Mr. B. began to teach, he was wholly deficient in some 
branches and but poorly qualified in others, for the duties he assumed; 
yet by constant and hopeful efforts and industry, he soon acquired 
such a practical facility in imparting his knowledge with precision 
and logical clearness, as to become a very successful teacher. He con- 
tinued teaching, filling up his vacations and intervals while not teach- 
ing, with studying latin and the higher branches of mathematics and 
mental, moral and natural philosophy, until the spring of 1842. 

Mr. B's. natural taste led him to the study of metaphysical and 
moral science, to which he devoted himself with the greatest zest. 

In the spring of 1842, he began the study of law at Johnston, Ful- 
ton county, with the Hon. Donald Mclntyre, then first judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas of that county, where he continued under the 
instruction of Judge Mclntyre (who was a gentleman of fine legal 
attainments, a well balanced and cultivated mind), until the year 
1845, when he was elected a justice of the peace, to fill a vacancy of 
about two years; at the same time continuing his legal studies in the 
office of George Yost, Esq., until the spring of 1846, when Mr. Yost 
removing to Fort Plain, Montgomery county, Mr. B. went into the 
office of John Wells of Johnstown, and there remained till October of 
the same year, when he was examined and admitted as an attorney 
at the general term of the Supreme Court held at Rochester. 

During the whole time of his legal studies Mr. B. was so poor that 
he was obliged to keep bachelor's hall, to live within his means; 
contributing at the same time to the support and education of a 
sister. 

After his admission as an attorney of the Supreme Court he re- 
mained at Johnstown until the spring of 1847, when he removed to 
and settled at St. Johnsville in Montgomery county, where he still 
resides. Having no means to purchase a library he borrowed a small 
sum, which he laid out in the purchase of a few practical works and 
then waited patiently until his business afforded him the means of 
enlarging his library, which he has gradually done until he has a fair 
country library. 

Mr. B. has had a fair professional business and success from the 
time he began; but has never had any extraordinary incidents of a 
professional character. 

As a lawyer he enjoys the reputation of a sound judgment for legal 
discrimination, acuteness in discovering the mental and moral cha- 
racteristics of witnesses and jurors, and the legal weight and bearing 
of evidence in a case. His arguments before a jury or court are 
directed more by the reasoning of his own mind than by the authority 
of books. He enjoys the confidence of all who know him, for his 
love of justice and fidelity to his client. 

In November, 1853, Mr. B. was elected a member of Assembly 
from the Second District in Montgomery county, by the Whig party. 



8 

He was opposed by Doct. Uriah Potter, a Free Soil Maine Law Demo- 
crat, and by Urelius Birge, a Hunker Anti-Maine Law Democrat, 
both of Minden, Montgomery county; Mr. Baker receiving 1168, Mr. 
Birge, 629, and Mr. Potter 607 votes. 

He was appointed chairman of the standing committee on privileges 
and elections, and a member of the judiciary committee for the ses- 
sion of 1854. There were two contested seats in the Assembly that 
year. 

A large majority of both Houses of the party to which Mr. B. 
belonged were in favor of the Maine law, but at an early period of 
the debates on that question, Mr. B. took a bold and uncompromising 
stand against the law, on the ground of its unconstitutionality, that 
it is impolitic and premature, against the popular will, and unjust 
and immoral in its effects upon the public mind, and that its passage 
would retard the progress of true reform. 

In all his discussions on this subject, Mr. B. denounced drunken- 
ness as a vice, and declared it the duty of the goverment to punish it 
as such. The veto message of Governor Seymour returning the bill 
to the House, embraced substantially Mr. B.'s arguments in a more 
elaborate and finished form. 

Among the projects of that year was the passage of a law to incor- 
porate companies to navigate the lakes, rivers and canals of the state; 
Mr. B. opposed it as a measure to build up monopolies and depress 
boatmen of small means. He made a good speech on the subject, but 
the press being friendly to the measure never published it. 

He took an active part in aiding the passage of the bill to facilitate 
the acquisition of surgical knowledge, allowing professors to procure 
bodies for dissection; made a good impromptu speech in its favor, and 
stood by it until it was perfected and passed, for which he received 
the thanks of Professor Paine, of the New York University, who had 
been long engaged in efforts to overcome the popular prejudice against 
the measure. 

In this matter Mr. B. was opposed by some of his warmest personal 
friends, and some of the ablest men in the House, but stood as firm 
as a rock until the bill was carried through; but in this as in many 
other cases where Mr. B. was opposed to his friends he retained their 
respect and confidence. 

Mr. B. was re-elected to the Assembly from his district again in 
November, 1854. At this election his principal opponent was Daniel 
S. Reid, who received the Democratic and Know Nothing vote of the 
district, except a few votes given for Mr. Pythagorus Wetmore, as a 
Free Soil Maine Law candidate. Mr. Baker received 1345, Mr. Reid, 
1001, and Mr. Wetmore, 205. 

At the following session of 1855, Mr. B. was appointed chairman 
of the judiciary committee and a member of a select committee on the 
governor's message relating to the detention of witnesses — a position 
given him on the ground of his being a progressive but conservative 
reformer; safe against hasty and injudicious legislation on the one 
hand, and ready for the adoption of any reform based upon sound and 
permanent principles on the other. This character he sustained to 
the entire satisfaction of his friends, during the session. 



9 

He again opposed the passage of the Maine Law with all his energy 
and influence on the same grounds as the year before, and on the fur- 
ther ground, that the courts and juries would refuse to enforce it; 
regulating their construction of the law by the higher law of popular 
feeling. 

During this session Mr. B. was appointed a member of a joint com- 
mittee " to ascertain the modes of procedure in the criminal courts, 
the office of the chief of police, station houses, penitentiaries, alms- 
houses, and city prisons in the cities of New York and Brooklyn," 
and " to report what, if any further legislation is necessary for the 
suppression and punishment of crime, and the better protection 
of persons charged with crime." 

He drafted the report of the committee which proposes certain 
alterations in the charter and police system of New York, not very 
palatable to his Hon., Mayor Wood, who is a zealous advocate of 
despotic political power. 

Mr. B. was regarded as the head of the Anti-Maine Law party in 
the House; was a warm and earnest supporter of Wm. H. Seward 
for U. S. Senator, and exerted all his influence for his election; en- 
couraging the timid, confirming the wavering, and animating the bold 
in favor of Mr. Seward, whom he regarded as one of the most en- 
lightened and liberal of American statesmen, and the champion above 
all others of civil and religious liberty. 

The debates on the Senatorial question elicited and called out all 
the talent and power of the House. Mr. B. made two bold and 
effective speeches in which he attacked the Know Nothing party — then 
inits rising power — laying open the secret corruptions of that party 
in such a vivid and powerful manner, that many of his friends regard- 
ed his speeches as the death knell of that party. His speeches were 
delivered without an)' previous preparation, and elicited the general 
commendation of all who heard them ; they were written out after 
their delivery and published in a pamphlet called " Senatorial De- 
bates," but lost much of their power and ability in the process of 
reducing them to writing. 

At the opening of that session, when the usual resolution inviting 
the clergymen to open the morning sessions with prayer was intro- 
duced, the Know Nothing portion of the House — being about 80 mem- 
bers — attempted to exclude the Catholics, but Mr. B. met the attempt 
with such energy, boldness and resolution, that he procured its modi- 
fication so as to allow the speaker to invite clergymen without discri- 
mination. Mr. B. opposed the intolerance of the Know Nothing 
party as anti- American, bigoted and illiberal. 

In November, 1856, he again received the nomination for member 
from the Republican party; was opposed by Mr. L. B. Clark, a popu- 
lar and influential Hunker Know Nothing, and by J. B. Ferguson, a 
Democrat. Mr. B. received 1478, Mr. Clark, 1327, and Mr. Fergu- 
son, 330 votes. 

In the present House Mr. B. is chairman of the committee on pri- 
vileges and elections, and chairman of a select committee on the 
criminal code; he was also appointed a member of the judiciary com- 
mittee on the 12th of March, 1857. 



10 

In person Mr. B. is 5 feet 8 inches high, weighs 135 ]bs., has brown 
hair, blue eyes, a thin, spare face with a serious and thoughtful cast. 
In temperament, his is a happy mixture of the nervous, billious and 
sanguine; he is candid, fearless, patient and humble; his friendships 
and resentments are strong and durable; his hope and caution are 
large; he believes in the Bible, and the doctrine of future rewards 
and punishments and the accountability of man ; belongs to no church ; 
has warm and devoted friends, and some bitter and relentless enemies 
who are sometimes converted into friends. 

He is yet a bachelor; loves little children and believes in matri- 
mony; has no ambition for political preferment; shrinks from all 
public display and notoriety; loves independence of personal charac- 
ter, and despises with a hearty and supreme contempt, the sycophan- 
tic satellite, who bends his pliant knee to power, "that thrift may 
follow fawning," above all the despicable characters to be found in 
the meanest class of the human race. 

Mr. B. is regarded a ready and fluent debater, but requires opposi- 
tion and provocation to display the powers with which nature has 
endowed him. His mode of argument is direct, simple and logical; 
meets his adversary in a direct manner, and despises evasion and 
sophistry as the low trickery of weak and dishonest minds. 

FREDERICK P. BELLINGER. 

The Hon. F. P. Bellinger is one of the " solid men " of Herkimer 
county. A farmer from choice; a politician by accident. He is a 
quiet, modest, stay-at-home sort of a man, who has become rich 
by minding his own business, and won the confidence of his constitu- 
ents by his unfaltering integrity. 

In the course of the " even tenor of his life," he has frequently 
been honored by his fellow-citizens, who have elected him to posts 
of distinction. Though not an old man, he was in active service at 
the time Col. Stone edited his weekly journal in the village of Herki- 
mer, and was intimately acquainted with that distinguished author, 
and was on the best of terms with Thurlow Weed when he worked 
at the case in Herkimer. 

Squire Bellinger has been a prominent Democrat for many years. 
He was, and for aught we know, is now colonel of the militia. 

Col. Bellinger served as a military officer at Sacketts Harbor in 
1812 and 1814. He went to the Assembly in 1827, again in 1830, and 
again in 1849. 

One year ago last fall he was nominated for State Senator in oppo- 
sition to the nominee of the American party. Mr. Bellinger was 
elected by a very handsome majority of three thousand. 

He has voted right every time, on every question that came before 
the Senate. He is a faithful public servant, always at the post of duty. 
He makes no pretensions to oratory — indeed he never made a speech 
in his life — but he can think, talk and vote. 

Col. Bellinger is a large man, weighing about two hundred and 
twenty pounds ; has a full, fresh, ruddy face and blue eyes. He is about 
sixty years of age. He represents the Sixteenth Senatorial District. 



11 

GEO. W. BRADFORD 

Is a member of the Senate and the author and advocate of a bill for pro- 
hibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors. He was born in 1796, in the 
county of Otsego; is a practicing physician; studied in Cooperstown and 
was admitted to practice in 1819. He commenced the practice of his 
profession in the town of Homer. Cortland county, where he now re- 
sides. He cast his first vote in 1818 for De Witt Clinton, is now a 
Republican; was elected to a seat in the Assembly in 1852. and in 
1854 was elected to a chair in the Senate, and was re-electe/l 1855. 
He represents the Twenty-third Senatorial District; belongs to the 
sixth generation of the direct lineal descendants of Governor Brad- 
ford, of Plymouth Rock memory; is about five feet eight inches in 
height; has dark hair touched with the frost of years, blue eyes, wears 
glasses over his eyes but never on his lips, being strictly temperate; 
shaves his face smooth; is a plain, quiet man, averse to noise and 
pomp; is chairman of the committee on medical societies, and on 
literature. 

ERASTUS BROOKS 

Is one of the best informed men in the Senate. No one there is 
better posted on parliamentary rules. He is a fluent and forcible de- 
bater, a graceful and vigorous writer, a generous and sociable man. 
He is the leader of the Know Nothing party in this state, and was its 
candidate for governor. He belongs to the "fifth avenoodles " and 
claims a high social position. He is a man of medium size, has hair 
black as a raven's wing and eyes to match ; his large perceptive fac- 
ulties give his forehead a retreating look. He is one of the editors 
and proprietors of the Neio York Express. He is chairman of the 
committee on cities and villages; on the committee on commerce 
and navigation, and on the select committee on the subject of a Pro- 
hibitory law. When a candidate for office he is not one of the run- 
ning Brooks we read of. Mr. B. represents the Sixth Senatorial 
District. 

AMOS BRIGGS. 

Mr. Briggs is a noble looking old gentleman about sixty years of 
age; has soft silky grey hair; a strongly marked face; a short tuft of 
whiskers, a sort of compromise between the past and present fashion. 
He has a habit of contracting the muscles of the face when reading, 
which may be owing to a deficiency in eyesight. He is a very con- 
scientious and honorable man, engaged in manufactures of some sort. 
He is chairman of the committee on manufactures, on the canal 
committee, and on the poor law committee. 

P. B. BABCOCK 

Represents the Second District of Oneida county. He was a Cass 
Democrat until the nomination of Buchanan, when he, together with 
several hundred others, united with the Republican party. He attends 
the Universalist church; is a farmer, the owner of a beautiful estate, 
although he commenced life poor and unaided by his friends. He was 



12 

town supervisor four years in succession. He is forty-two years of 
age, of ordinary stature, has a red, healthy face, dark hair and dark 
blue eyes. He is opposed to ''prohibition." He is chairman of the 
committee on census, and a member of the committee on insurance. 
He is a very respectable man and attends faithfully to the duties of 
his office. 

JEREMIAH S. BAKER 

Was born in Rensselaer county; is forty-three years of age; a farmer. 
He was formerly a Whig, is now a Republican; is a Unitarian; has been 
Supervisor of the town; is a temperance man. In person he is well pro- 
portioned, being above the common hight; is of the sanguine temper- 
ament, has light brown hair, auburn whiskers, large light eyes, and a 
long, healthy face, indicating firmness and unbending integrity. He is 
always at his post and looks well into the matters brought before the 
House. He is a faithful, efficient legislator. Is on the committee on 
engrossed bills; is a quiet, unassuming man, but has none the 
less influence on that account. 

NICHOLAS BARHYDT 

Is well known to the traveling public as the popular and obliging 
host of the Eagle Hotel and public hall, in Schenectady. He 
is not engaged in that business at the present writing. He is of 
Dutch descent; forty-eight years of age; of the nervous temperament, 
with a touch of the sanguine; has light hair, greyish blue eyes; is a 
quiet, honest, earnest man; was formerly a Democrat, now votes 
with the Republican party. He represents the city and county of 
Schenectady, and is on the excise committee; has been an alderman of 
the city he represents, supervisor, &c. He attends the Dutch Re- 
formed church, and maintains a high social position, while he retains 
the confidence and esteem of his political friends. 

A. BELL 

Is a very quiet, gentlemanly man — somewhat precise in his manner 
and particular in his dress. He is methodical, has a place for every- 
thing and everything in its place; has a sound and discriminating 
mind and a character above suspicion. In person he is of medium 
stature, is prematurely gray, has a fair, healthy face, mild blue eyes, 
narrow white whiskers, thin lips and an amiable expression of face. 
He was born in New Hampshire, IS 10— emigrated to this state in 
1827 and located in Alleghany county. After serving as a clerk in a 
mercantile house eight years, he commenced trade on his own account 
in Livingston county. After eight years' experience as a merchant 
he relinquished that calling and tried his hand in the furnace and ma- 
chine business, which, after four years' trial, he exchanged for farm- 
ing and lumbering. 

He is in comfortable circumstances and commands the respect of a 
lirge number of friends and acquaintances. His first presidential 
ballot was cast for Andrew Jackson, his last for John C. Fremont. 
He is a Republican, a member of the Presbyterian church and a strict 



13 

temperance man in theory and practice. He is chairman of the com- 
mittee of charitable and religious societies. He is a bell who has 
the ring of true metal, though without a noisy tongue. 

THOMAS P. BISHOP 

Represents District No. 2 of Madison county. He was born in Dutch- 
ess county, on the 1st of January, 1800; has been a trader in Caze- 
novia for twenty years, but has now retired from business. He was 
a Democrat till '44, when he became an Abolitionist, voting for James 
G. Birney; in '48 he mounted the Buffalo platform, indulging the 
hope that John P. Hale would be the nominee for President, but went 
with a good heart for Martin Van Buren. In '49 he went back (he 
regrets it) to the Democratic ranks; did not vote for Franklin Pierce, 
but did vote for John P. Hale; joined the Republican party at its for- 
mation, and was a delegate to the state convention in September. He 
is on the committee of expenditures of the House. 

He is a Bishop without a church, but liberal in his theological 
views; is a married man. In person he is of common stature, has 
brown hair somewhat silvered, smooth features, blue eyes, wears 
specs, is friendly, sociable, and fond of fun; a man of firmness and 
energy, and blessed with a good share of good common sense. 

HORACE BOIES 

Was born in Aurora, Erie county. Is now 29 years of age (looks 
not over 23); commenced the study of law at the age of 21, was ad- 
mitted to practice in all the courts in about 18 months; commenced 
practice at the time of commencing study. Has emphatically worked 
his way from the commencement, early learning that he must depend 
upon his own exertions. Had but ordinary opportunities in the 
acquirement of education, but made the most of them. Has now an 
extensive practice in the village of White Corners, in the Third 
Assembly District of Erie, where he resides. Was elected by some 
400 majority, running largely ahead of his ticket, especially in his 
own town (140). His father is of French descent, his mother of 
English. 

Is five feet eight inches in hight, weighs about 140; has complexion 
of ordinary cast, dark hair, and blue eyes that light up when en- 
gaged in animated or earnest discourse. Has spoken seldom during 
the session, but when speaking it is to the point and with an earnest- 
ness that secures attention and carries conviction. Makes friends of 
those who become acquainted with him. Is a worker and untiring. 
His prospects for the future are bright. 

Is a temperance man from principle. Goes in for nothing that can 
not stand upon its merits. Generally attends Presbyterian church. 
Is now a widower; his wife died about fifteen months since; was 
married in early life; had two children left by her, the oldest, a boy 
some four years of age, being taken away within a few days past. 
Is a member of the select committee on the code, and at the head of 
the committee on aliens. 



14 
ROBERT B. BRADFORD. 

His father was a Virginia farmer, and he himself was born in Cul- 
pepper county, Virginia; is now 24 years of age. He came to New 
York eighteen months ago, was appointed surgeon to the police de- 
partment by Fernando Wood, and subsequently nominated by the 
Wood party for the Legislature. The first vote he ever gave was for 
Mr. Buchanan. His relatives in Virginia were all Henry Clay Whigs, 
and many of them leading members of that party. He belongs to one 
of the most aristocratic families in the " old dominion." 

Dr. Bradford is a tall, prepossessing young man, of the sanguine 
nervous temperament; has brown hair, blue eyes, a round, pleasant 
face, wears a moustache, has a good voice, and the reputation of 
being a whole-souled, generous man, who improves on acquaintance. 
He has made one or two good speeches in the House. He is on the 
committee of medical societies and colleges. 

ERASMUS D. BROOKS 

Is from the Third District of St. Lawrence. He was formerly a Whig, 
is now a Republican. Was brought up in the mercantile business, but 
has now retired from active business. 

He is 39 years of age, tall and well proportioned, has a fine, fresh 
countenance, large blue eyes, sandy hair, is prematurely bald. A man 
of excellent principles and good sense. 

Mr. Brooks is a native of Shoreham, Addison county, Vermont. 
When quite young he removed to St. Lawrence county, New York. 
At the age of sixteen he entered Middlebury College, Vermont; when 
twenty-one he commenced mercantile pursuits. In 1841 he married 
the eldest daughter of the Hon. Jonah Sanford. Although not a 
member of any Christian church he is friendly to all denominations 
of evangelical Christians. He is on the committee of trade and ma- 
nufactures ; also on the committee of erection and division of towns 
and counties. 

HEZEKTAH BALDWIN 

Is the representative of the Second District of Greene county, resides 
in the town of Durham, is a farmer, thirty-eight years of age, of 
common stature, has brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy healthy face; 
smooth features ; wears a goatee. In politics he is a Republican, but 
was formerly a Whig ; attends the Presbyterian church. He is on the 
committee on grievances and does not complain on that account. His 
grand-father on his mother's side was an officer in the revolutionary 
war; his grand- father on his father's side was also a revolutionary 
soldier. 

HENRY W. BECKWITH. 

This tall "son of York" represents with distinguished zeal and 
ability the county of Washington, one of the loveliest gardens of the 
state. When applied to for information for the purposes of this 
sketch, Mr. Beckwith, with a rare and becoming modesty, politely but 
firmly objected, remarking that it was no sort of consequence how old 
he was or where he was born. Nevertheless we have contrived to 



15 

pick up sufficient materials to "take his life ", and will add our own 
views of his position, personnel, and peculiar characteristics. He is 
about 38 years of age, graduated at Union College, Schenectady, in 
1839, and went immediately to the city of New York, where he com- 
menced the practice of the law as one of the firm of Bradley, Mills 
& Beckwith. He gained no inconsiderable reputation at the bar, and 
accumulated quite a snug little fortune by his profession, which he re- 
linquished four years ago, when he went to North Granville, Wash- 
ington county, and settled down very quietly upon a farm, the "old 
homestead " where he was born. In this secluded spot, afar from the 
arena of forensic and political strife, he followed the independent and 
honorable vocation of a farmer, until the tocsin of freedom sounded 
and the republican party, like Minerva from the brain of Jove, sprung 
at once into full maturity and vigor. Then, like another Cincinnatus, 
he left the plough at the call of his country, and came to serve her in 
its councils. During the early part of the session he was remarkably 
quiet and unassuming for a man of his acknowledged ability, and his 
former friends, who knew his power, thought he was affected with 
chronic indolence. He was always in his seat and always voted right. 
The " lobby " very soon learn to know their men and they quickly 
gave him up as wholly impracticable, one who could not be induced 
by any considerations of policy or personal friendship to favor the 
passage of a bill that was not perfectly just and proper. His opposi- 
tion to all schemes for plundering the state gained him an enviable 
distinction for integrity, and the harpies who flock like carrion around 
the strong box of the treasury, found in him a second "Flagg" stone 
over which they could never step. No "sop to Cerberus" could gain 
his vote or his acquiescence in the many iniquitous schemes before 
the Legislature, and we once heard him severely anathematized by 
these robbers as "a man opposed to all liberal legislation" — i. e. to 
the various projects for legislative plunder. This marked trait in his 
cha racter gave him position at once, and when the sharp contest on 
the Quarantine removal had engaged the attention of the Assembly 
for a long time, he perfectly electrified the House by a speech of ir- 
resistible logic and stirring eloquence. His points were as clear, 
forcible and convincing, as his manner was earnest and impassioned, 
and that he largely influenced the result is evidenced by the fact that 
there were only two negative votes to the bill. He immediately took 
the front rank as an orator, with Judge Hogeboom and Speaker Little- 
john, and whenever he subsequently rose to address the House, he al- 
ways commanded the attention, respect and confidence of the mem- 
bers. He has been closely identified with the principal leading 
measures before the Legislature. It is the concurrent opinion of those 
competent to judge that political honors are in store for him, much 
higher than he has yet attained. He is of a most amiable disposition 
and is regarded as an extremely " clever fellow " by all who know 
him. There is nothing of the "old fogy" about him. He is active, 
earnest and energetic. He is thoroughly democratic in his views and 
feelings and does not affiliate or sympathize with anything like aristoc- 
racy. His personal appearance is tall and commanding; he stands 



16 

something over six feet, is well proportioned, and altogether as noble 
a specimen of " Young America " as one would wish to meet. His 
constituents may well felicitate themselves upon having so faithful, 
efficient and popular a representative. 

A. BERRY 

Is from the First District in Chenango county ; he resides in the town 
of Norwich, where he trades in wool, although it is an article which 
he does not pull over the eyes of his constituents. He is in fact a 
retired merchant; has political antecedents, were Whig, but is now 
an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Methodist church, a 
man of family and occupies a high position in all the relations of life. 
He is a native of Connecticut, came to this state in his youth and 
commenced the world bare-handed, but by diligence and enterprise he 
has acquired a handsome competency. 

Mr. Berry is fifty-one years of age, of ordinary stature, has an ami- 
able countenance, mild blue eyes, soft dark hair, turning gray: and 
short whiskers. He is a man of honest purpose and untiring industry. 
As a member of the committee of sixteen he is very efficient and use- 
ful. He is on the committee of the death penalty. 

S. C. CUYLER. 

S. C. Cuyler was born in Aurora, Cayuga county; is a son of Glen 
Cuyler, Esq., a lawyer who settled there at an early day. He Is a 
farmer; resides in Pultneyville, Wayne county, where he removed 
some twenty years since. He represents the counties of Wayne and 
Cayuga, which compose the Twenty-fourth Senatorial District; was 
elected by 1,500 majority. 

In the commencement of the anti-slavery enterprise some fifteen 
or twenty years since, he became interested in that cause; he was 
among the number who aided in forming the Liberty party, which was 
inaugurated in 1840, with the lamented Myron Holly at its head. He 
has devoted himself for many years to the work of arousing public 
attention to the enormities of slavery. He continued with that party 
till 1848, and then went, with many others, into the Free Soil move- 
ment; continued with them one year, when the party sold themselves 
to the Hunkers — Mr. C. would not ratify the bargain. He then acted 
with some anti-slavery friends, in an independent position till the 
Republican party was formed two years since. He is a temperance 
man, honest and faithful — is a real clever fellow, and to his credit be 
it spoken, never tasted intoxicating liquor in his life. 

Mr. Cuyler wears a pleasant face; has sparkling blue eyes, which 
kindle in debate; he has a broad, high forehead, a pale countenance, 
and brown hair; is rather below the common size; is very active; 
speaks fluently, energetically and boldly for the right. He is a man of 
warm impulses ; has a generous nature, and while he wins friends every 
day he never sacrifices one. He is prompt and bold and has the con- 
fidence of his party and the esteem of all his fellow legislators. He is 
chairman of the committee on salt; also a member of the Kansas com- 



17 

mittee, state prison committee, and of the committee on charitable 
and religious societies. 

ZENAS CLARK, 

For some years past an able Democratic Senator from St. Lawrence, 
now a Republican, lives at Pottsdam; did not want to run the last 
time he was nominated in consequence of ill health. He was elected 
in the face of an unscrupulous opposition. He is a true and faithful 
man; tall and erect, gray-haired, and about sixty-five years of age. 
He recently resigned in consequence of his rapidly failing health. His 
seat is now occupied by Bloomfield Usher, a banker from Pottsdam. 

ELTAS W. CADY 

Comes from the Second District of Tompkins county; was formerly a 
Whig, is now numbered with the Republicans, and works well in the 
ranks. He was a member of the Legislature in 1850; is a farmer, 
sixty-four years of age; a tall man, with thin face and gray hair; be- 
longs to the Presbyterian church; is not a floor-member, but a con- 
stant worker for the welfare of his constituents. He is a member of 
the committee on salt. We judge he is a man of sound, common 
sense (a rare commodity now-a-days), and a man of unfaltering hon- 
esty of purpose. 

C. N. CAMPBELL, 

Representative from the Third District of Dutchess county, was born 
in the year 1825. At an early age an insatiable thirst for knowledge 
insinuated itself into his mind, and, although surrounded by adverse 
circumstances, yet by self-sacrifice, untiring effort, and assiduous ap- 
plication, he obtained a preparatory course of education, but for 
divers reasons was compelled to abandon the idea of entering college. 
He commenced the study of medicine, and graduated at the New York 
University in 1847, and located soon after in the town of Stanford, 
where he now resides, practicing his profession, in which he has been 
eminently successful. His political principles are Democratic, of 
which party he has ever been a consistent adherent. 

Magnanimity of soul, integrity of purpose and an exemplary deport- 
ment, are characteristics happily blended in him, which, together with 
sound, discriminating judgment, urbanity of manner, a disposition and 
temperament at once confiding and enthusiastic, and noble and gener- 
ous impulses, have surrounded him with a host of friends; these ele- 
ments of popularity have secured to him the unabated confidence of 
an intelligent constituency, and indeed of all who possess his acquaint- 
ance. His present social and political position is attributable to his 
own uncompromising and praiseworthy individual exertions. He is a 
widower. 

He is rather below the medium stature; has dark hair touched with 
silver, a pale face, blue eyes, a fine forehead; wears a dark goatee; 
has a pleasant countenance, is good natured, and his ready laugh is 
very infectious. He is on the committee of colleges, academies and 
common schools; also the committee on medical colleges and medical 
societies. 

2 



18 
ALBERT CARPENTER 

Was born in the city of New York — he is now forty-six years of age — 
follows farming, and is proud of the fact that he has six boys, old and 
smart and industrious enough to drive that number of plows. We' 
are pleased to find a man once in a while who has the" good sense to 
educate his sons in the science of farming, instead of forcing them into 
the overcrowded professions. Mr. C. was formerly a Whig, but he is 
now an American: he is friendly to temperance, but opposed to the 
provisions of the Maine law. He attends the Methodist church. In 
person he is of ordinary stature; has brown hair, mild blue eyes, a 
round, florid face; is pleasant, sociable, free-hearted and energetic, 
and blessed with those social attributes which can not fail to win 
friends. Mr. C. is on the committeee on state charitable institutions. 

THOMAS CHARLOCK 

Was born in the town of Fishkill, N. Y., in 1810; learned the trade 
of coppersmith and plumber in the city of New York, where he now 
resides and carries on the plumbing business. He is now, and always 
has been, a Democrat, opposed to prohibition. He attends the Bap- 
tist church; has been a widower for nearly twenty years; speaks in 
public very seldom; is now serving his second term, being first elect- 
ed in 1848. He is about five feet nine inches in height, has dark 
hair and dark eyes, a Jewish nose, and wears a moustache, imperial 
and goatee. He is a sociable, pleasant fellow, and we judge he has a 
liberal heart and a whole soul. 

Mr. Charlock represents the Eighth Assembly District, Tenth 
Ward. He is on the committee of trade and manufactures. 

ELISHA CLAPP 

Is a bachelor, about forty-six years of age; has a fresh, healthy face, 
hair prematurely gray, eyes blue; he is short, stout and vigorous. 
He was formerly a Whig, is now a Republican; has been sheriff of 
the county, and is very much esteemed by all who know him. He is 
a quiet, even-tempered man — not a speaker, but quite a thinker. He 
came within seventeen votes of being elected last year. 

Mr. Clapp is a native of Massachusetts; is in " middling " circum- 
stances; attends the Universalist church; is friendly to the temper- 
ance law. Mr. C. is a member of the committee on public printing. 
He is prompt as daylight, and true to his party as the dial to the 
sun. 

LUCIAN CLARK 

Was born in the town of Denmark, Lewis county. His father was- a 
down-east yankeee — and the subject of this brief sketch has the look 
and gait of a genuine down-easter. Mr. C. lived with his father until 
he was twenty-one years of age, working on the farm during the 
spring and summer seasons and attending school during the winter 
months. When he attained his majority he commenced teaching 
school, and continued to do so for ten successive winters. When 
thirty-one years of age he married and moved to the farm on which 



19 

he now resides. He was superintendent of schools, supervisor of the 
town, county clerk, &c. ; was a Free Soil Whig until 1855, when he 
united with the Republicans. 

, Mr. C, is forty-nine years of age; tall, thin (but not a lean and 
hungry Cassius), and straight; has a spare face, expressive blue eyes, 
and brown hair. He is on the committee on public printing. He is 
a modest man, seldom rises to say a syllable in the House, but he 
votes understanding^ and eloquently. 

WILLIAM H. CROWE 

Is not a Black Republican, notwithstanding the ominous color of his 
name — but a sterling Democrat of the old school. He was born in 
the town of Summit (an eagle could not have chosen a loftier name), 
in the county of Schoharie, in the year 1820. He was brought up 
on a farm, and is one of the thriftiest tillers of the soil in the country. 
He is an energetic business man — does not waste the time of the 
House in making gaseous speeches or liquid explanations and amend- 
ments, but in solid votes and strict attention to his duties as a legis- 
lator. He is on the committee of Indian affairs — indeed, he is tall 
and straight as an Indian — being nearly six feet high; has dark blue 
eyes, a thin, pleasant countenance, and dark whiskers; his face indi- 
cates rugged, and rustic health. He is a married man, a justice of 
the peace, and well to do in the world. 

GEORGE B. COX 

Was a Henry Clay Whig up to the time of the inauguration of the 
Republican party, when he joined the B. R.'s for life, or during the 
war. Though a small man he is full of light and does not hesitate to 
pitch into the giants that cross his path. He was born in the town 
of Wallkill (a warlike name) in the county of Orange, where he now 
resides and practices the profession of the law. He is a temperance 
man; attends the new-school Presbyterian church; is thirty-five years 
of age; of the nervous, billious temperament; well built; of small sta- 
ture; has dark hair; wears glasses; dresses in good taste; speaks 
frequently with considerable unction, sometimes with power and elo- 
quence. Rumor says he is a plucky fellow, but we have not yet 
heard of his calling for pistols for two and toast, and tea for only one. 
He is a member of the judiciary committee. 

GEORGE DE WITT CLINTON 

Is from the county of Erie; is not a blood relative of the illustrious Clin- 
tons whose names are embroidered into the history of the nation; he 
is of Irish extraction. He was formerly a clerk, ia now the proprie- 
tor of a mill, and manufactures large quantities of flour at Black 
Rock; has the reputation of being wealthy. He is about thirty-five 
years of age, of good form; has auburn hair and whiskers, mild eyes, 
a Roman nose, lips finely cut, an amiable expression of face, and a 
musical voice (which is heard frequently in the House). The 
ladies pronounce him handsome. His approbativeness is so large he 



20 

is inclined to enter into explanations and apologies for his votes, at 
the cost of his reputation for decision of character. He has been in 
the Legislature before, is well posted on parliamentary usages, and 
looks keenl} r after the welfare of his constituents. He is an amia- 
ble, gentlemanly person, and, we would say in an under tone, unmar- 
ried. He is on the canal committee and the committee on engrossed 
bills. 

RUFUS CROWLEY 

Represents the Second Assembly District in Cattaraugus county. 
Was born in Rutland county, Vermont, in 1800, where he resided 
until 1841, having held the office in his native town of captain in the 
Vermont militia, constable and collector, selectman, overseer of the 
poor, and justice of the peace, for a number of years. In 1836 he 
was elected a member of the Vermont Legislature and re-elected in 
1837. He was a member of the Legislature of this state, from Cat- 
taraugus county, in 1847, the long session, being the first session 
after the adoption of the new Constitution. Has not been a candi- 
date since, until the last election, at which he was opposed by the 
Democrats and Americans, but was triumphantly elected to the pre- 
sent House by over eleven hundred majority over both parties com- 
bined. In 1843 he was elected a justice of the peace in the county 
he now represents, which office he now holds. Mr. Crowley was for- 
merly a Whig, but when the great Whig party split on the question 
of slavery, he was one of the first in his county who met in county 
convention to organize the Republican party, and was president of 
said convention. 

Mr. Crowley has been in the mercantile business the most of his 
life; is now in easy circumstances. Lobby influence can not and 
dare not approach him. Mr. Crowley is five feet ten inches in hight, 
has blue eyes and gray hair. 

JAMES T. CAMERON 

Is a full-blooded Scotchman. His parents came from the land of song 
and story nearly half a century ago, but the subject of this sketch 
was born in Steuben county, in the town of Hornellsville, in the 
year 1819, consequently he is 38 years of age; followed farming 
until he was twenty-one years of age. Then he was elected consta- 
ble and chosen deputy sheriff two years ; then he entered a law office 
and read law with J. K. Hale, now in the Senate and William Hawley 
an ex- Senator; after two years study he went to Alfred Academy, 
where he remained two years during which time he was admitted to 
the bar. Left his Alma Mater, went south with the intention of lo- 
cating there, but changed his mind and pitched his tent in the city of 
New York, where he was engaged in the transportation business four 
years, at the close of which time, owing to illness, he moved to the 
town of Friendship, Alleghany county, where he now lives, and per- 
forms the duties of agent for the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
pany. In the year 1849 he peformed the duties of sheriff in the 
county of Steuben, where he operated among the anti -renters. At 
one time a company of anti-renters threatened his life; he ventured 



21 

into the yard and forced his way through the crowd in the face of 
threats; is a democratic Republican; calls himself a Democrat. Is 
a married man. In person he is a hale, hearty, heavy, stout man, 
weighing nearly two hundred pounds, has a broad chest with a brave 
heart in it, a large head, broad high forehead, blue eyes, a full face, 
smoothly shaved. His grandfather was agent of the Pultney estate 
at Bath, a member of the Assembly about thirty years ago and died 
in Albany during the session of the Legislature. 

JOHN P. DARLING 

Is the favorite of the Republicans of the Thirty-second Senatorial 
District, was formerly the darling of the Whigs, and for a brief pe- 
riod the pet of the Americans; punning aside, Mr. D. is a very res- 
pectable gentleman, sustaining an honorable position in all the 
relations of life. He represents the counties of Cattaraugus and 
Chatauque in the Senate; is chairman of the committee on Indian affairs 
and a member of the committee on internal affairs of towns and 
counties. He is a tall, fine looking man, in the meridian of life, has 
dark hair and whiskers, a thin, sallow countenance, sharp black eyes, 
beaming with intelligence. He is a gentleman who commands the 
respect and esteem of all who know him. 

WARREN DIMMICK 

Is from Delaware county. He is a Democrat; follows farming and 
lumbering for a livelihood; is a man of fair abilities, a politician 
whose forte is shrewd management. He has held town offices and 
other places of trust, with honor to himself and credit to those who 
gave him their confidence. He is not friendly to all the provisions of 
the Maine Law; has the reputation of being " a good fellow," is so- 
ciable, pleasant and get-at-able; is a married man and well to-do in 
the world. In person he is large and solid, with a pleasant face, and 
hair somewhat gray. This is his first appearance as a legislator. 

Mr. Dimmick is a practicing lawyer; for many years he has been a 
justice of the peace; has been supervisor of the town three terms, 
indeed he has held every office of any importance in the town in 
which he lives. Mr. D. is the son of Colonel Dimmick now living at 
Arkville, Delaware county. His grandfather, Shubel Dimmick, was 
a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. D. is on the agricultural committee. 

FRANKLIN DUDLEY. 

Represents the Second Assembly District of Dutchess county; is a na- 
tive of the county of Berkshire, Massachusetts. Early in life, relying 
on his own resources, he left his parental home, and has, by a life ot 
honorable industry and attention to business, secured a competency, 
and no man in the community in which he resides stands higher, and 
all with whom he has had business relations entertain for him the 
highest regard. Educated in the Jeffersonian Democracy, he has 
maintained it unflinchingly, and illustrated it in all his politi- 
cal and social action. Whenever the issue has been presented he has 



22 

always supported the cause of human freedom and the inalienable 
rights of man. He has held several posts of honor and public trust, 
one .of which (post master for Pleasant Valley), he lost in conse- 
quence of refusing to obey the dictation of the slave power. With 
the same characteristic determination he has ever, when a candidate 
for office, refused to use rum and money to bribe the electors and to 
carry an election, preferring defeat to carrying an election by corrupt 
means. He knew nothing of his nomination until a few minutes be- 
fore he was nominated; he has always shrunk from office. 

In person Mr. Dudley presents a fine specimen of our species; in 
manners, dignified and agreeable; in temper, calm, firm and concili- 
ating. He is a largo man, with a full face, gray hair, blue eyes; he 
is the oldest man in the House. Mr. Dudley is now in the 67th year 
of age, but his friends regret that his health is such that he can not 
give that attention to the business of the House that his own sense of 
duty would dictate, but he is prompt and never afraid to perform his 
duty. He is on the committee of expenditures of the House and the 
committee of grievances. He has been engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits, but now leads a retired life. He attends the Presbyterian 
church. This fine old American gentleman may be seen any day 
during the session of the Legislature with a white pocket-handker- 
chief on his head — a flag of truce he displays daily. 

M. O. DAVIES 

Has retired from business. He is sixty years of age, although he 
does not look to be more than fifty. He learned the shoemaker's 
trade in his youth, afterwards became a harness-maker, then a farmer, 
then a merchant, and now he lives upon his "income." 

His residence is in Fonda, Montgomery county, and he represents 
the First District of that county. He is a temperance man. 
Is a member of the Methodist church. A Republican, formerly a 
Whig. 

In person he is of ordinary height and size, has dark hair and eyes, 
a long, pale face, is quick and nervous, polite and pleasant, a man of 
fair abilities and good social qualities. 

He is on the committee of state charitable institutions. 

ARNELL F. DICKINSON 

Is chairman of the committee on agriculture, and takes a deep in- 
terest in all matters relating to agriculture and education. He resides 
in the rural part of Westchester county, is a farmer and was born on 
the estate he now owns and occupies. He was a Whig, but is now a 
Republican. 

He is not a member nor steady attendant of any particular church. 
Residing in a rural community in which all denominations are about 
equally represented, his inclinations lean strongly to charitableness of 
opinion, while he deprecates most sincerely that disposition to jealousy, 
intolerance and unfriendliness too prevalent among religious denomina- 
tions. He has <tlled various stations of public trust in his native town 



23 

and county, and now for the first time makes his appearance in the 
Legislature. 

He is thirty-eight years of age, but looks much older, because he 
is prematurely gray; has a full, ruddy face, and seems to enjoy robust 
and vigorous health. He is a stout man of full habit. It is a feather 
in bis cap that he never drank a glass of intoxicating liquor in his 
life, nor used tobacco in any form. He seems to be a man of con- 
siderable energy, and has a good mind which has been improved by 
general reading. 

JOHN R DIXON 

Is a name well known on our legislative records, he having been in 
the Assembly three years in succession representing the Fourth Dis- 
trict (fifth ward) of the city of New York. Mr. Dixon has not only 
represented the same district each time, but the same democratic prin- 
ciples also. He is a master mechanic (a sash-maker) and a thorough busi- 
ness man. He was born in the ward he represents ; thus contradicting 
the sentiment that a man has no honor in his own country among his 
own kindred; attends the Methodist church; is a married man, has 
been connected with the fire department. Mr. Dixon is a tall, finely 
formed man, with dark hair, somewhat bald, has large magnetic eyes, 
a full, fresh, jovial face, the index to a generous nature which is one 
of his striking characteristics. He is on the committee of banks, in- 
ternal affairs of towns and counties, and the sub-committee of sixteen. 
Mr. Dixon seldom speaks, but votes always — according to the instruc- 
tions he received from his constituents. 

JAMES R. DICKSON. 

The ancient Saxons were in the habit of giving but one name to 
their children, hence when Robert, or Richard, or William, or Jack, 
or Dick had a son, he would be distinguished by the cognomen of 
Richardson, the son of Richard; Williamson, the son of William; 
Jackson, the son of Jack; Dickson, the son of Dick; in this way we 
see in one direction the origin of Saxon names. Mr. Dickson is a 
native of Utica, Oneida county, is fifty-one years of age, of common 
size and stature, has gray hair, blue eyes, an earnest face, a sound 
head and a kind heart ; is a miller by occupation, attends the Associate 
Reform church; is a member of the committee on grievances, and re- 
presents the First District in Orange county. His parents belong 
to Orange county, and he, after an absence of seventeen years in 
South Carolina, married an Orange county lady and located in the 
District he now represents. His father came from Ireland in 1798. 

JOHN EVERS 

Represents the Third or City District of Albany ; is an Irishman, 
and owes his election to his popularity among his countrymen. He 
is an officer in the Ernmet Guards; is engaged in the liquor trade; v 
Catholic in religion; a fine looking man, about forty years of age. 
Soon after his election he met with an accident which resulted in a 
broken leg, and rendered it difficult for him to attend to his legisla- 
tive duties. He is seldom seen in the House. He is on the commit- 
tee of elections and privileges. 



24 
JOHN W. FERDON. 

Senator Ferdon is probably the youngest member of the Senate, 
but being prematurely bald, he appears older than he really is. He 
is of the nervous temperament; has pale features; a high forehead, 
which shines as though fresh from some classic varnish; a nose that 
would have tempted Napoleon the great, to make a marshall of him. 
He has blue eyes, nicely penciled eye brows, and a face indicative of 
a clear conscience, and a good digestive apparatus. He is on the 
committee on agriculture, on the select committee, on the rules of 
the house, on state prisons, and on medical societies. 

SAMUEL ALFRED FOOT. 

Judge Foot is one of the oldest and ablest members of the Legisla- 
ture. He is a native of Watertown, Connecticut, and is the son of a 
farmer. The farm on which he was born has been in the family five 
generations, and is now the property of a blood relative. He acquired 
his elementary education in the. old, red school-house which formerly 
stood on the village green. When in his teens he left home to live 
with his brother, Ebenezer Foot, a member of the bar in the city of 
Troy. After spending one year in his brother's office he went to 
Union college, where he remained four years; not having the means 
to complete his studies, he repaired to the office of Judge Thompson of 
Saratoga county ; remained nine months there, and then completed 
his studies with his brother and S. North, Esq., who had opened an 
office in Albany. When Mr. North died, the subject of this sketch 
went into full partnership with his brother, who was twenty years 
his senior. After being in partnership with him eighteen months his 
brother died, and the Supreme Court admitted him as a counsellor, 
and Chancellor Kent, as a solicitor on ex gracia. He at once com- 
menced to argue cases in the Supreme Court. The first case he 
argued in the Court for the Correction of Errors, was Jackson ex- 
dem, Houseman ex dem versus Sebrig and Carpenter, against Emmet 
and Wells, in which he gained for his clients seventy thousand 
dollars, and received a fee of ten thousand dollars for his services, 
which, with the exception of one thousand dollars retained by him- 
self, he applied to the payment of his deceased brother's debts, and 
to a provision for his widow and daughter. 

Judge Foot has been engaged in many interesting and important 
cases. He is one of the first commercial lawyers in the state. After 
leaving Albany he practiced his profession in the city of New York, 
where he acquired an independent fortune. He has now retired to a beau- 
tiful residence in Geneva, which district he represents for the second 
term in the Legislature. He speaks frequently and fluently on all topics 
brought before the House, and reads carefully every bill presented to 
the Legislature. He is one of the most industrious men in the House, 
working early and late, and watching the treasury with a vigilance 
that would do credit to Joseph Hume, the great economist of England. 
He scarcely gives himself time to eat or sleep, being on committees 
which demand almost all the time of recess; and John Quincy Adams 
was not more punctual to his desk than Judge Foot is to his seat. He 



25 

is chairman of the judiciary committee; on the committee of excise, 
and the criminal code committee. 

In person he is rather below medium stature ; has a litle stoop of 
the shoulders; gray hair, originally dark; sharp brown eyes, a hooked 
or eagle nose, a broad, high, shining forehead; has a habit of swaying 
his head from side to side when he speaks. His voice is fine, but he 
pitches it at a high key, and gesticulates with so much earnestness 
as to attract the attention of the House. He is about sixty years of 
age; is a member of the Presbyterian church; a man of high social 
standing. Under Gov. Clinton he held the office of district attorney, 
and was removed to make room for B. F. Butler. Since he has been in 
Geneva, he was appointed by Gov. Hunt, presiding Judge of the 
Court of Appeals. 

JOHN H. FUNK, 

Member from Kings county, is forty years of age. He was born in 
Cherry Valley, Otsego county, Feb'y 8, 1817, where he resided till 
nineteen years of age, learning the trade of house carpenter. In the 
year 1836 he left the home of his childhood to seek his fortune in the 
great city of New York, where he resided till about the year 1846; he 
then removed to Brooklyn, and went into business as a builder, on 
his own account, which he has pursued with great energy and success, 
having been rewarded with an ample fortune for his industry and 
integrity. Last fall, being about to retire from the active scenes of 
his profession, the Democratic party of his district, of which Mr. 
Funk has from his earliest days been a faithful member, unanimously 
nominated and elected him, by a large majority, to represent them in 
the Legislature. As a legislator Mr. Funk exhibits the same untir- 
ing industry in protecting the interests of his constituents, as he 
always did in his own private business. 

Mr. F. is about five feet nine inches tall; of the nervous, sanguine 
temperament; has blue eyes, pale complexion, and brown hair; a 
well developed forehead. He is president of the Lafayette Insurance 
Company of the city of Brooklyn. 

ERASTUS W. GLOVER 

Has made politics the study of his life. He seems to have been born 
a politician, and is familiar with all the crooks and convolutions of 
all the political organizations of the day. He is a native of the city 
of New York, and represents the Ninth Assembly District, which em- 
braces the eleventh ward of the city of New York. He has been in 
the House twice before (in 1853 and in 1856), and of course has had 
considerable experience as a legislator. He is on the committee of 
sixteen, the excise committee, and the committee to equalize taxa- 
tion. 

Mr. G. is a good parliamentarian, speaks sensibly and forcibly, 
and commands the ear of the House — because he is not a bore, and 
has the good sense and good taste to " stop speaking when he has 
done." He is a Democrat of the old school; has been superintendent 
of streets, &c. in New York; is a master mechanic (a painter); 
attends the Universalist church ; was chairman of the excise commit- 



26 

tee at the last session of the House, and gave a report adverse to pro- 
hibition. 

During the Dorr excitement he went with Mike Walsh and other 
volunteers to fight for the Oliver Cromwell of Rhode Island. Mr. G. is 
thirty-five years of age, of medium stature, pale complexion, blue 
eyes and brown hair; is of the sensitive temperament; has a good 
share of courage, is courteous and obliging, and true to his consti- 
tuents. 

SAMUEL H. GRANT 

Is from Worcester, Otsego county, and represents the First District 
of that county. He was a Democrat, born in the blood, and sticks 
to his Democracy in its hour of adversity as well as in the palmy days 
of its prosperity; is a lawyer; has been county superintendent 
of schools. He attends the Methodist church; is opposed to 
prohibition. He was born in Chenango county; studied law with 
Elijah Brown, Esq., and commenced the practice of law in the town 
where he now resides. He is on the committee of two-thirds and 
three-fifths bills, the committee of privileges and elections, on the spe- 
cial committee to revise the criminal code, and on the special com- 
mittee on capital punishment. 

Mr. Grant is forty years of age, short and stout built, has a robust 
form and rosy face, blue eyes and dark hair. He is a faithful, ear- 
nest, hard-working and very useful man. May his district always 
grant so good a representative. 

ISAAC GEORGE 

Is a member of the Assembly, representing the Second District of 
Chautauque county, and resides in the village of Fredonia. He was 
born in the town of Gainseville, Wyoming (late Genesee) county, 
on the first day of May, 1818. 

In early life the desolating scourge of intemperance sundered for 
him the paradise of a parental home, and left him from the age of six 
years with little protection or aid, except the charities of the world, 
to enable him to meet and overcome its multiplied temptations and 
trials. 

The acknowledgment of an honored mother's many and tearful 
sacrifices in his behalf, and also his present regards for a reformed 
and venerable father, he would deem it a breach of gratitude and 
filial duty to withhold. 

He was reared principally in the vicinity of Springville, Erie coun- 
ty, residing, portions of the time, with different families in that sec- 
tion, until the age of twenty, during which period he succeeded in 
obtaining an education which has enabled him thus far to fill, with 
fair literary credit, the various positions which he has since been cal- 
led upon to occupy in life. Springville Academy was his Alma Mater. 
During this period he was accustomed to employ himself a portion of 
each successive year in teaching common school. 

Possessed of strong religious sympathies, he embraced, at the age 
of eighteen, the peculiar doctrines of the Universalist denomination, 
and received its fellowship as a clergyman in 1840. 



27 

In 1841 he married Miss Mary Brewer, of Cuba, Alleghany county, 
with whom, and three lovely daughters, his homes is now blest with 
life's best attractions. The following year he located in Independ- 
ence, in the last named county, as pastor of a society of his faith. 

In 1844, he took the pastoral charge of a society at Perrysburg, 
Ohio, where he remained two years. He then (in 1846) returned to 
Springville, the home of his boyhood days, in which place he succeed- 
ed in organizing a Universalist society and building a church. 

After remaining here about five years he removed (in 1851) to 
Chautauque county, where he has since resided, with the exception 
of two years ('54 and '55) spent in Middleport, Niagara county, as 
pastor of a society in that village. 

Failing health and a disgust for the apparent necessity of ministerial 
changes, which have become so common of late, together with a de- 
sire to relieve himself of that dependence, which subjects the freedom 
of the pulpit to the caprice of a captious and intolerant minority in 
too many religious societies, induced him, not long since, to turn his 
attention to the study and practice of law. 

He has, within the past year, been admitted as an attorney, which 
position will not, in his opinion, necessarily preclude him from the 
privilege of speaking in behalf of Christ and religion, should occasion 
require. 

He has always been a working friend of temperance and favors pro- 
hibition. 

Formerly a Whig, he united with the Republican party at its 
inauguration, and, during the late campaign, was among the leading 
speakers of his section of the state. 

His nomination for his present position was endorsed on the 4th 
of November last by about two thousand plurality. 

Mr. George is a tall, well-formed man, with brown hair, blue eyes 
and an earnest face. He speaks distinctly and deliberately and is a 
man of considerable power; he commands the respect of the house. 

It is our opinion there is a bright future before this gentleman, for 
he is an untiring student, a close thinker, a man of unexceptionable 
habits, and has the peculiar tact to win golden opinions from his asso- 
ciates. 

Mr. G. is on the committee of colleges, academies and common 
schools, and on the committee of excise, and chairman of committee 
on capital punishment. 

C. P. GRANGER 

Represents the Second District in Jefferson county — a district " wor- 
thy of mention " for its mineral productions, its lumber, its agricul- 
tural advantages and its water-power. It is the terminus of the 
Black River Canal, and in the immediate vicinity of the " Thousand 
Islands " that gem the bosom of the beautiful St. Lawrence, In Mr. 
Granger's district are the famous Sterlingville Iron Works, wherepig 
and refined iron of a superior quality are manufactured. He resides 
in the town of Le Ray, which was the residence of the famous James 
Le Ray, who founded the first agricultural society in this state— a 



28 

society which has at the pre-sent writing no equal in the common- 
wealth. 

Mr. G. has formerly been a teacher; he is now an engineer by pro- 
fession. He was several years superintendent of education in his 
own town, being chosen while his party was in the minority. He is 
forty-three years of age, a widower, and has a good estate. He was 
formerly a Whig; is now a Republican; is friendly to prohibition; a 
strong, popular man, who will watch with vigilance the welfare of 
his constituents. He is a nephew of Gen. Amos P. Granger, of Syra- 
cuse, one of the true men in Congress who has had the courage and 
talent to make his mark on the side of liberty and humanity. 

C. P. Granger is a large, stout man, with a high, broad forehead, 
brown hair, blue eyes, and a full face indicating firmness and honesty 
of purpose. 

He has just been elected a justice of the peace in the town where 
he resides, thus evincing the satisfaction of his immediate constituents, 
and the appreciation by his neighbors and townsmen of his ability and 
integrity in the discharge of official duties. He belongs to the com- 
mittee on public lands. 

JOHN GOULD 

Represents the Second District of Niagara. He occupied the same 
position last year. He is a plain farmer, blessed with a large share 
of good common sense, and that firmness of character which insures 
the respect of a large circle of political friends. He has held town 
and county offices for many years — has been supervisor, loan commis- 
sioner, &c, &c. He was, until recently, a Cass Democrat, but when 
that party steeped itself in alcohol and gave up to slavery in order 
to preserve its existence, he left it in disgust and united with the Re- 
publicans. He is an outspoken temperance man; a member of the 
Congregational church; a man of family — seven sons and two daugh- 
ters — and a man of fortune. 

Although his parents were United States citizens, he was born in 
Canada in 1797 ; came to the district he now represents when a child, 
and has lived there for more than half a century. He is a stout built 
man, rather below the common stature; has brown hair touched with 
silver ; a full, fat round face; is a pleasant and agreeable man. Long 
may he wave, and may his shadow never be less. He is on the com- 
mittee of Indian affairs. We consider him worth his weight in 
gould. 

JOHN T. HOGEBOOM. 

The name of the subject of this sketch clearly enough indicates its 
Holland extraction; yet while the paternal fountain has carried along 
with its flow the title of its origin, it has, like the natural stream in 
its descent, received into itself the flood of many branches. This 
continent presents in this respect the opposite of the old. There, the 
streams of human lineage have run divergent, giving rise to the dis- 
tinct families of the new. Here, they are receiving their convergent 
flow, assimilating the races of men into a harmonious whole; & and 
following, as it would seem, like the circulation of blood in the indi- 



29 

vidual, some great law of humanity. We make these philosophical 
abstractions parenthetically, because they are suggested by the family 
name, though they would more properly belong to a treatise on no- 
menclature than to these " hurrygraphs." 

From his father, Judge Hogeboom derives not only Dutch, but the 
blood of the Huguenots; from his mother, English and Irish — we may 
add, too, in passing, in all something of a " rebel " character. Tha*t 
of the Huguenots is well known; some of his ancestors were among 
the Rhode Island Baptists, the first free, offshoot of New England 
Puritanism. The celebrated Quakeress, Sarah Smith, who was tied 
to a cart and whipped through the streets of Salem, for " religion's 
sake," was a direct lineal ancestor. 

In all the contests upon this continent, for religious and political 
freedom, bloody or bloodless, the different branches of this family 
have borne a conspicuous part upon the " rebel " side. Reverence 
for the frost of hoary age seems to have constituted but a very small 
part of the family character, and this is indubitably inherited by the 
person we are now endeavoring to present to our readers. We can 
scarcely more than refer to a very few of the features of a history 
which has been a very eventful one, and of more than common inci- 
dent. 

Judge Hogeboom was born in 1816, on the spot where he now 
resides, and where have dwelt his direct ancestors since the vacating 
of possession by the Aborigines. It is a beautiful and quiet valle} r , 
in the heart of" old Columbia," and, like most of the original Dutch 
settlements in this country, remarkable alike for the salubrity of its 
climate and the fertility of its soil. His early education, until the 
age of fourteen, was from the common school of the town. These 
schools while wanting many of the advantages of a more advanced 
education, nevertheless certainly furnish a kind of mental aliment in 
a higher degree than any other educational institutions. Here, meet 
the sons and daughters of the whole community, in whose childlike 
simplicity and truthfulness, the artificial distinctions of society find 
but little favor. Character stands upon its natural bases, and pre- 
sents views of human nature which no other condition so well affords. 
Here, are revealed the secret springs of human action, open to clear 
inspection, which more or less become concealed in the covered ways 
of after life. The judge's powers of observation were always acute, 
and much of his facility and unerring accuracy in judging the motives 
of men, may be due to this early training in the common schools — 
those Nation's nurseries of freemen. 

At the age of 14 he was sent to a neighboring academy, where, di- 
viding his time between study and hunting and fishing, he matured 
all he ever received of a classical education. It must not be inferred 
from this allusion to out-door sports, that he was inattentive to his 
studies; on the contrary, no pupil made greater proficiency. The 
privilege of following the bent of his own inclination for half the 
time, was secured to him by his father, as a condition of his entering 
the institution, and one which the subject of it was not very likely to 
surrender. Against the urgent solicitation of his friends he aban- 
doned the design of a " college course," and became a pupil of the 



30 

famous Amos Eaton in a quiet school on the banks of the Hudson. 
He remained here about three years, busying himself in hammering 
rocks, picking to pieces flowers, stuffing birds, pinning butterflies, 
dissecting frogs and lizards, etc., etc., thus practically illustrating his 
text-books on geology, botany and natural history as a diversion, 
while pursuing his studies in natural philosophy, mechanics and 
mathematics. In this last branch he has few superiors. He mastered 
conic sections, Anxious, the differential and integral calculus, and in 
fact the whole of the science of pure mathematics at a very early age, 
and without the aid of a teacher. To this severe training and 
thorough discipline may be ascribed his remarkable powers of analy- 
sis and induction, his close reasoning and logical force. 

In 1833 he went to Kinderhook and commenced the study of the 
law. In 1835, he migrated "to the West," (Buffalo was then regard- 
ed as "out west") finished his studies, and commenced the practice 
of his profession, at the "queen city of the lakes." While there he 
planned an expedition across the Rocky Mountains and formed a com- 
pany for its execution, which failed in its undertaking, only from the 
strong and affectionate interference of his parents, who had become 
apprised of it before it was too late. The incident is worthy of re- 
cord, perhaps, as covering in design a project since so gloriously exe- 
cuted by a young adventurer, "the Pathfinder of Empire," whose 
deeds have passed into history and developed to the world a charac- 
ter destined to become immortal. 

In 1842 he was married to Miss Sarah McClellan, a daughter of 
Dr. Samuel McClellan, of Nassau, a woman of rare accomplishments 
and great personal beauty. We have not space to devote to the his- 
tory of his elevation to the bench, his election to various 'posts of 
honor, his eloquent speeches before agricultural and literary societies, 
his political labors in '48; these facts will appear in a larger volume 
nearly ready for the press. Judge H. is a clear thinker, a close rea- 
soner, and an able and eloquent debater, and is one of the first men 
in the Legislature. In person he is of common stature, of the ner- 
vous sanguine temperament, has dark hair, brown eyes, wears a long 
auburn beard, which becomes him admirably. Our sketch of Judge 
H., which we had prepared, is too long for the general scope and de- 
sign of this work. It will appear in a volume entitled the " Empire 
men of the Empire State." 

LYMAN HAWES 

Is the heaviest man in the House and has chosen his seat in sleepy 
hollow, but the reader must not suppose on that account that he is a 
phlegmatic man, for he is an active and useful man; indeed the mem- 
bers in that soporific region are always wide awake during the sessions 
of the House. Mr. H. is a farmer; has a full, fresh face, blue eyes, 
and his once fair hair is now beginning to be bleached by years. He 
is a solid man physically and a sound man mentally. He 'represents 
one of the districts in Livington county. He is on the committee of 
towns and counties. 



31 
WILLIAM HOTCHKISS. 

Senator Hotchkiss is an amiable gentleman with a clear head and a 
generous heart, was originally a mechanic. He has devoted his leisure 
moments to the study af politics, and is really one of the ablest men 
in the Senate, having a sound mind and discriminating taste. He was 
with Michael Hoffman and other distinguished men in the constitu- 
tional convention in 1846; has held various town and county offices, 
and was never defeated when a candidate for office; was elected by 
the Americans and represents the Fourteenth District. He is fifty 
years of age; has round blue eyes, gray hair and a full, calm face; 
he wears spectacles, pays strict attention to business, and deserves 
the reputation he has won for unswerving veracity. He is a native 
of Albany; attends the Presbyterian church. 

JOHN K. HALE. 

Senator Hale is a hale and hearty looking man, with a round, full, 
fat, pleasant face, closely shaved, small blue eyes, which are nearly 
closed when he speaks, and that can not be owing to a lack of lan- 
guage, for he is one of the readiest and most eloquent debaters in the 
Senate Chamber, being full of that human lightning which wings a 
man's words with fire and comes home to the heart with electric 
energy. His looks indicate indomitable force of character, and his 
mouth does not seem to be formed to say "I cant."' He must be about 
forty-five years of age; is a lawyer, having a large practice in Horn- 
ellsville, Steuben county. He was in the Assembly in '49. He is on 
the committee on grievances and on privileges and elections. 

JOHN B. HALSTEAD 

Owing to a misfortune which resulted in a broken limb, and at one 
time threatened his life, Senator Halstead has been detained at home 
during a greater portion of the session of the Senate. We saw him 
the other day leaning upon the arm of a friend and using crutches 
making his way slowly to his seat. He is a tall, pale, nervous, 
sickly looking man; a merchant, and when able to attend to his busi 
ness is very active, and is noted for the soundness of his judgment 
and the integrity of his purposes. He is apparently forty-five years 
of age, and we hope he will be able to throw away his crutches in 
time to run again for office, for he deserves the confidence and sup- 
port of his district. He is on the committee on manufactures and 
the committee of privileges and elections. 

JOHN HANFORD 

Is a tall, good looking man with dark eyes and dark hair and a rosy 
face, terminating in a moustache. He is from Brooklyn, Kings 
county; is a Democrat, dyed in the wool, and his earnest face showe 
that he is a warm friend and not a vicious enemy. He watches th- 
weal of his district with unsleeping vigilance. He is on the com. 
mittee on claims, and the committee of commerce and navigationt 
He is a native of Norwalk, Ct., 39 years of age; has been a residens 
of that part of Brooklyn formerly known as Williamsburgh for 20 
years. This is his second term in Assembly; he represents a district 
which, under the new apportionment will be entitled to two members. 



32 
WILLIAM H. HYDE 

Was born in the town of Oxford, N. Y., in the year 1826. He 
attended school in that town at the academy, afterwards became an 
assistant teacher in that celebrated institution of learning. He grad- 
uated at Geneva (now Hobart Free College) in 1848, and immediately 
assumed the province of teacher in the town of Delhi, N. Y., where 
he remained a short time and then returned to Oxford and read law 
in the office of Mr. Henry R. Mygatt, Esq. He represents the Second 
Assembly District of Chenango. His father, now dead, was a repre- 
sentative from the same county in 1822 and in 1832. Mr. Hyde is a 
very efficient man, whose nice taste and literary attainments eminently 
fit him to perform the functions of a Legislator. He is on the joint 
library committee, the committee on internal affairs of towns and 
counties, and the committee to revise the criminal code. Mr. H. is a 
retiring, modest man, speaks to the point, and his wit is as keen as a 
Damascus blade. His address before the Oxford Literary Society is 
a masterpiece of elegant composition. In person he is slender, with 
a thin face, dark hair and whiskers. He is a bachelor. 

JOHN HOLSTEAD 

Represents the Third Assembly District in Oneida county; is a Repub- 
lican, was formerly a Whig; is on the committee of internal affairs of 
towns and counties; is a married man; not a member of any church, 
but usually attends; is thirty-three years of age; has reddish brown 
hair, a smoothly shaved, round, florid face, large blue eyes ; is impul- 
sive, energetic, cordial and free-hearted. He is engaged in manufac- 
turing and dealing in lumber; is in comfortable circumstances, indeed, 
independent His honest face would frighten any lobby man who 
would dare attempt to approach him with a bribe. 

JOHN W. HARCOURT 

Belongs to the Albany District. Was for many years agent for the 
People's line of steamboats; is a whole-souled fellow, sociable and 
generous ; was originally a Sofc Democrat, but united with the K. N.s 
at the outset of their organization; was their candidate for Congress 
in '54, but was defeated by Dr. Dickson, then a good Whig, now a 
true blue Republican. Mr. H. is about forty-seven years of age, a 
good looking man. He is a member of the committee on public 
buildings, also of the militia committee. He is a popular favorite, 
and blessed with many generous traits of character. 

JAMES HUNTINGTON 

Represents the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District. He is a farmer, a 
man of substance, a Republican; attends the Presbyterian church; is 
a native of New London, Connecticut; has dark hair and whiskers, 
snowed over with the storms of fifty-nine winters; he has thin lips 
and blue eyes and an honest face. He is on the banking committee, 
and the committee on expiring laws. 



33 
A. HUTCHINSON 

Is a tall man, well proportioned, has blue eyes, brown hair, a rim of 
whiskers which become his strongly-marked face as feathers do an 
eagle. He is forty-six years of age, follows the plow, has taught 
school, has been accustomed to public speaking, having lectured fre- 
quently on temperance and freedom; he took the stump for the Repub- 
lican cause and candidates last fall, and rendered efficient service 
during the campaign. Mr. H. was formerly a Whig, afterwards a 
Liberty Party man, is now a Republican. He attends the Congrega- 
tional church; is regarded as an ultra temperance man. We judge 
him to be a man of great firmness and decision of character, earnest and 
zealous in the cause of freedom, bold and fearless in the avowal of 
his opinions. He is a man of sterling honesty, and will labor assidu- 
ously for the welfare of his constituents. 

Born in Remsen, Oneida county. His father emigrated to Orleans 
county in 1816, where the subject of this sketch now resides. He is 
on the committee on public lands. 

W. T. HASTINGS 

Was born in Chemung county, in the town in which he now resides — 
proving the fact that there are exceptions to the rule, that prophets 
have no honor in their own country among their own kindred. Mr. 
Hastings is forty-six years of age, nearly six feet high and of fair 
proportions; he has brown hair of a reddish cast, and sandy whiskers; 
he wears spectacles, his eyes having been injured by the explosion of 
a potash kettle. He is a thorough-going temperance man, a member 
of the Methodist church, and a true friend to every Christian and 
charitable institution. 

He was for many years a regular Democrat; was postmaster in the 
town in which he lives, at the time there was such a stampede 
toward the Buffalo Platform, and he was removed in consequence of 
his barn-burning proclivities. He was a delegate from his county 
in state convention, when the Republicans and Whigs united and 
formed the Republican party. Gov. King presided at said conven- 
tion. He attended the Philadelphia convention that nominated Col. 
Fremont for President; came home and found that his village paper 
had been bought over by the Democrats to the support of Buchanan, 
and he immediately went to New York and bought a press, hired an 
editor and hands, and raised the flag of freedom in his village, and 
paid the expense of running the press until he left to serve his con- 
stituents at Albany. 

He was a poor boy; worked at farming until he was twenty-four 
years of age, then operated as a merchant for twelve years, then went 
into the milling business. He now owns the. Chemung County Bank. 

He is a man of tireless energy of character, frank and friendly, of 
correct business habits and uncommon executive ability. He was 
elected on the Republican ticket. Some of his political opponents 
voted for him, knowing that he would spare no labor to promote the 
general good of his constituents. Mr. H. is on the canal committee, 
on the committee on census, and the committee for equalizing the 
state tax. 

3 



34 



A. V. HARPENDING 

Represents Yates county, and is now serving his first term as a 
Legislator. He is a lawyer in good standing, and has been district 
attorney in the county which he represents. Was a Wooley Whig, 
but is now a Black Republican. He attends the Presbyterian church. 
Is a bachelor, thirty-seven years of age, of small stature, has black 
hair and dark eyes, a high promontory-like forehead. He rather dis- 
tinguished himself in a speech made in defence of the public buildings 
at Havana. He made an able and argumentative reply to Mr. Van 
Valkenburgh, who was eloquent in behalf of Watkins. Mr. H. is 
chairman of the committee on the internal affairs of towns and 
counties and a member of the Kansas committee. 

GEORGE M. MOLLIS. 

Mr. Hollis is a resident of the town of Butternuts, Otsego county, 
a gentleman of pleasing exterior, and in easy circumstances. He is 
about thirty-three years of age, and has been engaged in the mercan- 
tile business until recently, when he purchased a fertile and valuable 
farm in the above town, where he now resides, at peace with all the 
world, not even excluding "the rest of mankind." Popular at borne, 
the vote he received from the people of his district is one of the best 
testimonials a man can hope for. He has good judgment, sound 
sense, and will legislate for the good of the whole People. — N. Y. Sun. 

ANSON INGRAHAM 

Is from the First District in Washington county; was formerly a 
Whig, is now an ardent Republican; attends the Presbyterian church; 
has been a merchant, is now engaged in manufacturing stoves in the 
city of Troy, thus immortalizing his name in iron. He has a noble 
countenance, dark, expressive eyes, dark hair slightly curled. In his 
county he has held various offices of trust, was supervisor for many 
years. He is on the sub-committee of the whole, and a very useful 
and intelligent member. He commands the respect of all, by his 
urbanity and undeviating courtesy. 

HENRY J. IRVING 

Is a native of New York, a lawyer by profession, an American in 
politics. He read law at Ballston, was admitted to practice by the 
Supreme Court, at the Capitol, and now deals in Littleton, and 
Cook, and Blackstone in the empire city. He is about thirty years 
of age, of Scotch descent; has light brown hair; blue eyes; speaks 
frequently and with considerable ability; is on the committee of three- 
fifth bills, and the expenses of the House. 

Mr. I. stands well at the bar, and is considered a good fellow in 
social life. May he earn a name as lasting as that worn by his dis- 
tinguished namesake, the Goldsmith of America. 



35 
DAVID R. FLOYD JONES. 

It is generally conceded that Mr. Jones is one of the ablest 
Democrats in the House, and if that party has a leader there, he is 
the most prominent man, and wears the belt at every boxing match. 
He was their candidate for Speaker, and we doubt if the Democratic 
party has a more competent man in the state, to discharge the 
responsible and delicate functions of that difficult post. Mr. Jones 
has a good voice, speaks deliberately, distinctly and accurately, and 
never fails to get the eye and the ear, though not always the heart of 
the House. He is a man of noble presence, tall, straight, erect and 
dignified, with dark hair and piercing:, dark eyes, a thoughtful face 
fringed with whisker:;. He is one of the hardest of the Hards, 
opposed to prohibition, and inimical to agitation on the subject of 
slavery. 

David R. Floyd Jones was born at South Oyster Bay, Queens 
county. Long Island, on the 6th of April, 1813. Entered the sopho- 
more class of Union College, Schenectady, in July, 1829, and gradu- 
ated in 1832. Studiei law with Judge Samuel W. Jones of Schenect- 
ady, and was admitted to the bar in 1836, and practiced law in the 
city of New York. Was elected a member of the Assembly' of this 
state, from the city of New York in the fall of 1840, reelected in 
1841, and again elected in 1842. Was elected in 1843, a Senator, to 
represent the First Senatorial District, then composed of the city and 
county of New York, the county of Kings and the county of Richmond. 
In 1846 was elected a delegate to the convention which framed our 
present state constitution. In 1848 was chosen clerk of the Superior 
Court of the city of New York, which office he held until 1852, when 
he resigned. He then left the city of New York and took up his 
residence at South Oyster Bay. L. I., on the estate which had been 
owned and occupied by his family for more than a century and a half. 
He is now the representative in the Assembly of his native county of 
Queens. 

THOMAS JOHNSON 

Was formerly a Democrat and cast his first ballot for Martin Van 
Buren. In 1840 he united with the Whig party, and remained with 
that party until the inauguration of Republicanism. He is now and 
probably will be during his lifetime a "protective tariff" man from 
principle, and obtained the votes of temperance men at the late 
election. He was born in Saratoga county, is forty-two years of age, 
six feet tall, has brown hair, and blue eyes; is a farmer; belongs to 
the Reform Baptist church; a man of family. He is an honest, in- 
dustrious and intelligent man. 

BARNA R. JOHNSON. 

A more respectable Parliament of men than the present Legisla- 
ture of this state has seldom convened at the capitol of our common- 
wealth. 

We have in that body of Legislators men of talent and metal, who 
will not suffer in comparison with some of the members of Congress 



36 

who make great pretensions. Littlejohn, Baker, Scott, Van Val- 
kenburgh, Pendergast, Foote, and many other celebrities have seats 
in the house ; but we now invite the attention of our readers to a 
sketch of a young lawyer (Barna R. Johnson) from Delaware county. 
This quiet, modest young man belongs to the class of self-made men, 
self-taught, self-reliant, he usually accomplishes whatever he under- 
takes. 

As a lawyer he has been eminently successful in several important 
suits, and has won green laurels and golden honors in the face of 
adverse circumstances. His competitor for the seat he occupies was 
Barna Radeker, a man of fortune and influence, for whom the subject 
of this sketch was named — a singular coincidence, not foreseen when 
the child was christened. Mr. Johnson excels as an advocate, having 
a good voice and a great command of language. Has taken part in 
the debate of most of the important questions in the house; makes 
his best efforts when he has strong opposition. He is on the judici- 
ary, two-thirds and three-fifths committees. He has been frequently 
honored by his constituents, who have given him posts of honor and 
trust in the town and county. 

He was formerly a Seward Whig, but early identified himself with 
the Republican party. Believes in the inalienable rights of man and 
holds that governments arc bound to secure those rights. He attends 
the Presbyterian church, though not a communicant. Is friendly to 
the temperance enterprise, but will not over-legislate on the question 
for the gratification of our political enemies. 

He is about thirty years of age; has a bold, high forehead, bright 
blue eyes, dark hair, inclined to curl, wears a moustache, is rather 
below the medium stature. 

He dresses with care and neatness, and makes a good appearance. 
We predict a bright future for him, and wish him success, for he has 
a great heart. 

JOHN H. KETCHAM. 

The subject of this sketch is a young man — perhaps the youngest 
man in the House, being but twenty-four years of age — but he wears 
an old head, and takes to business and politics as if created for no 
other purpose. In his school-boy time he was an active, shrewd 
political manager, and was put forward for the suffrage of his party 
even before he had attained his majority. This is his second term in 
the Legislature; and he has served two years in the board of super- 
visors of Dutchess county. He is a consistent member of the" Repub- 
lican party, and is as constant as the pole-star to its principles. 
About the time he became of an age to legalize business transactions, 
he lost his father, who was one of the most energetic business men of 
Dutchess county. Thus he was thrust forward as the head and front 
of a large and arduous business. In all the positions in which he has 
been placed, he has acted well his part, and maintained an unsullied 
reputation. Do you ask for active enterprise, benevolence, or 
" sweet-toned companionship ?" In him they all unite. 

He takes an active part in the proceedings of the house, and is one 
of its most useful, able and influential members; is chairman of the 



37 

committee on roads and bridges, also is a member of the sub-com- 
mittee of the whole, two of the most important committees in the 
House. The reader may rest assured that he has but little leisure at 
his disposal, and it would be difficult to find one more faithful, effi- 
cient and impartial in the discharge of his official labors. He pos- 
sesses the unabated confidence of his constituents, is constantly at his 
post, and is as true to their interests as the steel to the star; he has 
the combination of the fo.teter in re, with the suaviter in modo which 
makes him much respected while he is a general favorite. 

He is five feet ten inches in hight, well built, has brown hair, 
gray blue eyes, a healthy face, pleasant expression and is a young 
man of good principles, pleasing address, and unexceptionable habits. 

ALANSON KING 

Was born in Collins, Erie county, N. Y., on the 20th March, 1816, 
He was bred a farmer, and has followed agricultural pursuits most, of 
his life. He was a Whig (from his boyhood) until the formation of 
the Republican party, when he exerted the utmost of his endeavors 
to secure the triumph of freedom. He is a man highly esteemed in 
all the relations of life. 

Mr. K. has been supervisor of the town in which he lives. Has 
taught school off and on for 12 years, and has had some experience 
in mercantile pursuits, but is now a farmer. In person he is of ordi- 
nary stature, has dark hair, blue eyes, a red, healthy face; he is an 
affable, sociable and pleasant man, and has a host of friends in the 
House. 

RICHARD KIMMEY 
Was born in Bethlehem, in Albany county; is a forwarder; a member 
of the Dutch Reformed church; is fifty-five years of age; of common 
stature; has brown hair, blue eyes and the sun-tan on his cheeks. 
He is now serving his second term in the House; is on the agricultu- 
ral committee and the committee on charitable and religious institu- 
tions. He is an industrious, faithful man, working earnestly and 
honestly for the welfare of his friends; he is a Democrat. 



THOMAS K1VLEN 

Was born in Ireland, but came to this country in his childhood. 
When sixteen years of age he commenced clerking in a grocery store 
in the city of New York, afterwards kept a grocery and liquor store 
on his own account; has been a Democrat from his boyhood; served 
as a police officer in the city of New York for six years, resigned in 
1854, and was appointed to an office in the Marine Court, whichoffice 
he held three years. He now represents the Second District of New 
York, which embraces the Third and Sixth Wards. Mr. K. is a 
Catholic, twenty-eight years of age, five feet seven inches in height, 
weighs 160 pounds; has blue eyes and brown hair, a large, pale face, 
with high cheek bones. He has the gift of tongues and speaks spon- 
taneously. He is on the committee on Indian affairs. He stood up 
manfully in the House in defense of servant girls who have no redress 
in some families when they sue for wages, and has made several im- 
promptu speeches, which were devoid of polish but full of vigor. 



38 

WILLIAM KELLY 

Is one of the most influential Democrats in the state, indeed he has a 
national reputation. He was formerly a first class importing merchant 
in the city of New York in partnership with his brother Robert, now 
deceased. He now lives on his beautiful estate at Rhinebeck, where 
his handsome residence is the admiration of all beholders, and his 
hospitality the praise of every guest. In the Senate he takes consid- 
erable interest in matters pertaining to corporations and banking 
institutions, being eminently practical and a first-rate financier. He 
is chairman of the bank committee, and a member of the committee 
on roads and bridges, and performs his tluties with great efficiency. 
He is a very prudent, watchful legislator, prompt and dignified, and 
faithful at his post. He is about fifty years of age; a lordly looking 
man, with flaxen hair, blue eyes, pale complexion. He is stout-built, 
erect inform, and elastic in step He has a princely fortune. He 
represents the Eighth Senatorial District. 

JOHN T. LACEY, 

Representing the Second District of Monroe county, is a son of the 
late Hon. Isaac Lacey, who was twice a Representative, and a State 
Senator two terms. He was a large farmer in the town of Chili, and, 
with his noble companion, reared a family of five sons and seven 
daughters; and in the minds of all were deeply implanted the highest 
sense of honor and a sincere regard for private and public virtue, 
from which none have ever swerved. 

The subject of this notice was born at White Creek, Washington 
county, in 1808. He came with his father, in 1816, to his western 
New York home, at or near which he has resided until seven years 
ago, when he removed to Rochester. He has been town clerk two 
years, supervisor three 3'ears, justice of the peace in the town of 
Chili ten years, county clerk three years, is now an alderman of the 
fourth ward in Rochester, and the choice of the people of that good 
city for its representative in the Legislature. 

He has twice been on the lower side of the wheel of fortune, but is 
now honestly possessed of a small but sufficient competency ; and, 
with the priceless love of a dear and noble companion, and a son care- 
fully trained in the paths of virtue and intelligence, he seems content 
to be passing along the latter half of the journey of life, quite regard- 
less when or where the end may be, if honor and duty but accompany 
him to the close. 

He has ever been an ardent lover of justice, equality, and the 
largest liberty of all men consistent with the public welfare — a true De- 
mocrat though called a Whig. He is a hater of violence and strife, but 
would, at any time within the last year, have volunteered to go to 
Kansas with a thousand of the freemen of the north, to protect the 
lovers of liberty from the cruel wrongs of Pierce, Douglass and 
Stringfellow slavery propogandists. 

^ He was an agriculturist for many years, and is proud of having, 
either as superintendent or assistant laborer, aided in producing over 
sixty thousand bushels of wheat, and a vast amount of other products 



39 

to feed and benefit mankind, and therefor claims his title to the honor 
of a worthy citizen of the great American republic. 

Has never used the ardent as a beverage, or the weed in any shape, 
always regarding the gifts of Providence as wisely bestowed for such 
moderate use as enlightened intellect shall sanction and direct. Has 
spent nearly all leisure hours in the realms of thought and fancy, 
inspired by Shakespeare, Scott, Byron, and other soul-ennobling 
authors, and in them even found a sweet companionship that never 
causes sorrow or regret, but leads the soul to heaven, while with 
earthly things it enjoys peace and delight. 

M. L1NDLEY LEE. 

Doctor Lee is one of the leading men in the Senate, a close thinker 
and fluent debater. He is a most formidable opponent, and a most 
desirable advocate. He is a man of culture and spirit, and takes an 
intense interest in the social, moral and political reforms of the day. 
Like most men of his craft, he is decidedly opposed to whatever 
approximates to old fogy ism. In person he is tall and thin, with a 
literary looking face, sharp, dark eyes and dark hair. He represents 
the Twentieth Senatorial District, and is on the committee of claims, 
medical societies, and cities and villages. He is not now much en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession, having the means to rest upon 
his oars. 

M. Lindley Lee was born in Minisink, Orange county, of respecta- 
ble parents in moderate circumstances; lost his father at nine years 
of age; spent, after ten years of age, summers at work on a farm, win- 
ters at school, until sixteen years of age. The next four years spent 
in teaching, fitting for college; graduated 1827, at Union College; 
united with Presbyterian church at fifteen years of age ; studied medi- 
cine at Auburn; graduated at the Medical College of Western New 
York, located at Fairfield. Commenced practice at Havana, Schuyler 
county; before the close of the year, changed to Fulton, Oswego 
county, where he now resides. Continued practice eighteen years. 
Postmaster under Harrison. Elected to Assembly in 1847, '48, and 
to the Senate in 1855. Loan commissioner from 1849 resigned the 
office. 

EL1AS W. LEAVENWORTH 

Is a name familiar as a household word, in the state of New York, 
a spirited citizen, a first-rate lawyer, a shrewd political manager, 
and an able statesman. He needs not the endorsement of this sketch 
to place him in his true position before the American public. He 
was born December 20, 1803, in Columbia county; in 1805 moved to 
Great Harrington, Massachusetts; in 1819 fitted for college under the 
tuition of the Rev. Joel Parker — father of Amasa J. Parker, of Hud- 
son; had previously studied at G. B. In 1820 entered Williams College, 
Mass,, where he remained one year, when he entered Yale, one year 
in advance, and graduated in 1824. After spending two years in the 
Litchfield law school, then under the care of the Hon. James Gould, 
he was admitted to practice in all the courts of Connecticut. In Nov.. 
1827 he moved to Syracuse and entered into law business with Alfred 



, 



40 

North am. In 1829 B. Davis Noxon removed from Onondaga hill to 
Syracuse (the county seat being soon to be removed there), he entered 
into partnership with him, which continued ten or twelve years, 
when they took in his son George W. . and his son-in-law George F. 
Comstock — now of the Court of Appeals. In 1842 B. D. Noxon and 
George W. Noxon retired from the firm, and James Noxon entered 
into the partnership. When Mr. Comstock was appointed reporter 
for the Court of Appeals, the firm was continued under the name of 
Leavenworth & Noxon, which remained until 1850, when Mr. L. 
retired. 

In 1838-9-40, he was elected each year president of the village; in 
? 39 and ! 40, supervisor of the town of Salina, then including Syracuse, 
Geddes and Liverpool. In 1846-7 he was again elected president of 
the village. In 1849 he was elected mayor of the city of Syracuse, in 
the spring, and to the Assembly the following fall. In 1853 he was 
elected secretary of state, and in 1856 again elected to the Assembly. 

He is president of the Central City Bank, trustee of the Orphan 
Asylum, and connected with other charitable institutions. In 1853 
he married Mary E. Foreman, an amiable and accomplished lady, 
daughter of the Hon. Joshua Foreman, of Onondaga. 

Mr. L. is a man of extensive learning and exquisite taste, a pro- 
found thinker and splendid debater. He is a tall, trim-built man, 
with sharp, smoothly-shaved face, dark hair, blue eyes, Roman 
nose, and compressed lips, indicating great energy and decision of 
character. 

D. C. LITTLEJOHN. 

This gentleman, Speaker of the present Assembly, was born in 
Oneida county, in 1818. While young he removed with his parents 
to Albany, and, after a complete academic course, in which he ac- 
quitted himself well, went to Oswego in 1839, as a clerk in the com- 
mission and forwarding business, becoming a partner with his employer 
in 1842. 

He has been twice Speaker of the Assembly, and at various times 
has held offices of trust and honor; but in his case these marks of 
public confidence, are to be spoken of as the means and not the end. 
He seems always to have considered power and place as carrying 
serious responsibilities, and not as comfortable resting spots for 
seekers of ease at the public expense — as valuable only for the 
accomplishment of some purpose. • He is emphatically a man of pur- 
pose, and more, of purpose born in honesty. 

In youth he is said to have been a boy of serious thoughtful ness, 
and, strengthened and tempered by experience and trial, his tone of 
mind still is candid and sober; while he by no means lacks the cheer- 
fulness of disposition to be a pleasant companion, his prevailing tem- 
per is earnestness; his forte is practicality, with a sufficiency of 
philosophy to rescue his style of thought and expression from be- 
coming narrow by too inflexible directness. Thus, in the considera- 
tion of questions of state economy or individual enterprise, a simple 
business man, like one who, walking between high hedges, sees only the 
strip of path before him, considers the profit and loss of the individual 



41 

case, and is done ; while the philosopher, like he whose way leads 
through open meadows and wide spread landscapes, takes in not only 
the instance but the argument — not only that so much money is made, 
but that the operation has involved industry the parent of many 
virtues, incited competition the life of trade, and quickened the intel- 
ligence of all who have witnessed the successful enterprise. 

Mr. Littlejohn, with enough of mere unmitigated arithmetic in his 
composition to be a model merchant, has, at the same time, the breadth 
of mind and scope of mental vision to be a statesman. He can 
scarcely be called a representative man, he has not sufficient originality 
for that, but he has what is better, the discipline of mind and judg- 
ment to recognize reason and truth, and detect fraud or fallacy. He 
does not create metals, but has an unfailing alchemy to test them. His 
mind as well as his temperament is such, that though a most formidable 
adversary from his quickness to see all the truth in a case, I doubt if 
he has the ability to invent a respectable sophism. He can't have a 
vagary, that would be flatly against his " constitution." Without 
intimate acquaintance it is hard to judge of the aesthetic development 
of any man, but I should presume order to be with him a fundamental 
condition, without which there is "neither shape nor comeliness." I 
doubt if he has thought of poetry sime that insane period of youth 
when doggerel is a matter of course, or like emetics in some forms of 
sickness, an expedient to remove the bile. 

It has been already said, that with him the acceptance of office is 
never for the empty honor, as honors go here, where as Dickens says 
every justice of the peace is ex-officio " one of the most eminent men 
of our country." His disposition is, if there be no preconceived 
object, to cast about and And what needs to be done. So, his first 
term in the Legislature (1853), was signalized by his efforts as a 
member of the canal committee, to procure the amendment to the 
constitution to aid the speedy enlargement of the canal; his second 
(1854), by the efficient law of that year, under which contracts on 
our public works have been let; and the third (1855 when he was 
Speaker), by the distinguished part taken by him in the election of 
Mr. Seward, as United States Senator. All will remember the wide- 
spread excitement of that period. Mr. Littlejohn was fiercely de- 
nounced by the Know Nothings, then in power, and finally banished 
from the lodges (though, I believe, he was never really a member of 
the order), with a grand flourish of trumpets. 
" What's banished but set free 
From daily contact with the things I loathe." 

The boldness of his course at that time startled timid men, even of 
his own party. His own courage inspired others, and by carrying 
the war at once into the enemy's country, the Hindoos were routed 
and Mr. Seward elected. 

It was charged against him that he had misrepresented his constitu- 
ency, but this met a most unmistakable refutation in the action of 
the people who, during the height of the excitement, elected him mayor 
of Oswego, by an increased majority. The measures of this year in 
which he has been interested are well known through the public prints. 

His speech on the quarantine question was most admirably con- 



42 

ccived, powerfully delivered and well-timed. The debate had been 
long and tiresome. As each speaker took his seat, the cry was 
" question, question." With shrewd calculation, Mr. L. husbanded 
his strength until the moment when, his opponents having all been 
heard, he could at one effort answer every argument, and close the 
discussion by a summing up which should conclude the whole case. 
The House was silent when he rose, and without exordium or warn- 
ing he plunged into the middle of the subject, carrying every hearer 
with him. The important question was no longer in danger of being 
adjudged upon petty technicalities nor irrelevant reasoning. In ten 
sentences he had relieved it from the misty uncertainty in which 
blundering orators had befogged themselves, and the whole matter, 
by force of his clear logic and good sense, stood revealed, a measure 
of salvation to the great, helpless city that, like an unconscious child, 
played with the breezes which bore the vapors of death. There 
could be no answer, and the vote taken immediately after, showed by 
its conclusiveness, the effect of this able effort. 

As a presiding officer Mr. S. is ready and decided, and has a calm 
dignity which no confusion or excitement can disturb. In speaking 
his whole manner is changed. He besomes nervous, impassioned, 
and even vehement ; a feeble thought goes from his lips clothed with 
the added power »of forcible enunciation and energetic deliverj'. 

His manners have a genial suavity that never varies for persons 
nor subject ; whether he addresses the great statesman or the mes- 
senger boy he is always the gentleman. For him, occasions seem to 
have no distinction, whether they be grand or simple, he is always 
self-possessed and adequate to the demands of the moment. 

As a politician he is not over quick in decision, but once deter- 
mined, positive and open in action. He has unquestioned shrewdness, 
but with such moral development as will prevent it from degenerating 
into mere cunning. Though he is not ambitious, he prizes public 
honor for what it is worth, and I expect yet to see him in the United 
States Senate. 

Mr. Littlejohn was formerly a Whig. He is about forty years of 
age, is married, attends the Episcopal church. He is tall and rather 
thin; has dark hair, large, black eyes, a pale, thoughtful face, a fine 
forehead, and a good head. 

CALVIN LITTLEFIELD 

Is thirty-four years of age; is five feet nine inches in hight, weighs 
145 pounds; was born in Ellisburgh, Jefferson county; graduated at 
Union College in 1845; was principal of the Union Academy, Jeffer- 
son county, two years, Aurora Academy, Erie county, five years; 
took to the home farm for health and independence; elected to the 
Assembly of '54, re-elected in '55, re-elected again in '56 by two 
thousand majority. Mr. L. is a Republican, was formely a Free Soil 
Whig, has always been a prohibitionist; attends the Presbyterian 
church. Mr. L. is a modest man, who shrinks from public stare; he 
is of the nervous temperament, has a pale thin face, blue eyes, brown 
hair and a fine forehead; he is a man of nice taste and good judgment 
and his word is a bond. 



43 
HARRIS LEWIS 

Is one of the most respectable and influential men in the town of 
Schuyler. For many years he has been an active magistrate and a 
leading man in the county of Herkimer. 

He was a Whig and worked in that party with great efficiency, 
until the anti-slavery enterprise assumed a phase which united the 
cream of all political organizations into a people's party. He has 
been frequently a delegate to conventions, a referee in cases of litiga 
tion, an executor in settling estates, &c. He owns and occupies a 
fine farm, which lies in the valley of the Mohawk. Much 
of his time is devoted to surveying, a science in which he excels. He 
is a member of the Baptist church; a man of few words, but possess- 
ing an extraordinary share of sound, practical common sense. He is 
never troubled with poetical hysterics, or enthusiastical convulsions, 
but always cool, calm and civil, friendly to all, but obstinately firm 
in the right. He is an out and out temperance man, a member of 
almost every variety of organization formed for the suppression of 
intemperance. He is a member of the committee of sixteen. 

He is short and stout, about five feet four inches in hight, with full 
breast and broad shoulders and straight back-bone. He is about 
forty-one years of age. Hair dark brown, eyes small and blue, face 
full and broad, with high cheek bones. He speaks deliberately, and 
in a low tone of voice, without a word of ornament, and rarely rises 
to speak in public. Like his excellent predecessor Mr. Green, he will 
not fail to win the confidence of the House. 

Mr. Lewis was born in Chenango county, and came to Schuyler 
when he was twenty years of age. At that time he was poor and 
almost penniless; he now owns the farm on which he then worked 
as a hired hand. He is known by the sobriquet of " previous question." 
He is a member of the committee of sixteen and of the select com- 
mittee on excise. 

RALPH A. LOVELAWD 

Represents the rough but bold and liberty-loving county of Essex. 
Born at Westport in that county, nurtured amid its magnificent hills 
and inspiring scenery, his principles are as firm as the rocks of his 
native county. He was born in 1819 and is now 37 years of age. 
He commenced life without property, with a family dependent on his 
individual exertions. Rallying under circumstances that would have 
disheartened most young men, he has acquired a competency which 
insures him against the accidents of age. Having been extensively 
engaged in the transportation business and being familiar with the 
workings of the Champlain Canal, he was properly placed upon the 
canal committee by Speaker Littlejohn, who is quick to appreciate 
character, and. in this instance, prompt to recognize the Republican 
tendencies of Northern New York. 

The position of Mr. L., next to Mr. Leavenworth, is, perhaps, the 
most enviable in the House for a new member. Mr. Leavenworth is 
a man of character and of varied accomplishments and Mr. Loveland 
will not fail to make the best use of his association. While Mr. 
Loveland will make no speeches no member will more clearly com- 



44 

prehend questions of business, nor will any one excel him in devotion 
to the duties of his position. 

Mr. Loveland is a man of medium size, dark complexion, dark 
hair, dark eyes and heavy beard. He enjoys good health and is in 
full use of every mental and physical faculty. Affable in all relations 
he is yet cautious and can never be induced to support a measure, 
which he is not convinced, by examination, is correct. He is the last 
man for the " third house" to approach, and yet, if satisfied of the 
justice of a proposition, it would not matter from whom it comes. 
As a member of the Baptist church his deportment is in accordance 
with his profession. 

DAVID B. LUCKEY 

Represents Sullivan county. He is an American; attends the Metho- 
dist church; is fifty years of age; a farmer; is on the committee of 
grievances; he is a quiet, stay-at-home sort of a man, who minds his 
own business; he is of common stature, has dark brown hair, gray 
blue eyes, a weather-tanned face and an honest hand hardened by 
labor. In social intercourse he is unreserved and confiding. 

THOMAS MULLIGAN 

Represents the second Assembly District of the city of Brooklyn. 
Emigrated to this country when quite young, his parents having died 
when he was only seven years old; he obtained his education in his 
native country, constantly devoting his time to that study, but being 
ambitious, like all others who wish to seek for more information than 
he thought could be afforded to him in his guardian's means, although 
possessed of more than the ordinary calibre of his school-mates; he 
wished to be on the onward march for the progressive age. 

When at the age of not quite twenty, he engaged in the grocery 
business on his own account, and from his uniform habits and his 
honest motives of principles and industry, ^he obtained all the 
confidence of the community, which was the means of leading to a 
successful business. After the lapse of eighteen years he abandoned 
that business and engaged in a more lucrative one, in the flour and 
teed business. During his term he was a strong Democrat of the 
Jackson and Jefferson principles, and advocated its principles pub- 
licly. He was sought by his party to take the office of collector of 
his city, he was elected; again sought for alderman and elected; again 
for supervisor, and now we find him in the Legislature of the state 
of New York. He is forty-two years of age; has been very success- 
ful in his business; has accumulated considerable property in the city, 
and has always taken a deep interest in its welfare. Mr. M. is a 
good-looking man, with black curly hair, blue eyes and red cheeks, 
he is rather above the medium stature. Mr. Mulligan is a member of 
the insurance committee. 

DANIEL MAHEN. 

There are few Representatives in the Assembly who occupy a sim- 
ilar position with Mr. Mahen. His most distinguished effort was 
brought forth by Mr. Varnum of New York, who endeavored to press 



45 

through his registry law, at a moment when the absence of all opposers 
promised it an unobstructed passage. But this champion of Demo- 
cracy rose in the true dignity of his position, and witi^a defiant tone 
and crushing argument arrested the bill. He presented to the House 
a ballot-box, crying as he lifted it up: "Here is and ever shall be the 
receptacle of the votes of my people! " Mr. Mahen occupied a noted 
position also in the recent caucus Democratic Senatorial nomination. 
The Wood party had calculated upon his generalship in their behalf; 
some of his constituents were sent to Albany to co-operate with him 
in favor of their distinguished champion. But when the hour of test 
arrived, Mr. Mahen, with his characteric independence, rose in con- 
flict with the young champion of Democracy, and besought his city 
colleagues to unite with him in crushing fogyism and erecting the 
banner of Young America. Mr. Mahen is young and ambitious, and 
possesses a bold confidence which guarantees to his friends a bright 
future, and to himself a renowned and respected old age. 

A gentleman from New York furnished us with the above. The 
following facts we obtained from another source. 

Mr. Mahen's parents came from Ireland in 1818, and settled in 
Boston. After a few years they removed to the city of New York, 
where, in 1826, the subject of this sketch was born. In 1833 he was 
compelled to earn his living, which he did by selling newspapers, the 
Sun, Herald, Transcript, Sunday Atlis, &c. When he was thirteen 
years of age he was apprenticed to the United States Navy; after two 
years' experience he ran away. When quite a young man he obtained 
a situation in the Custom House — a position he has held for some 
time. Mr. Mahen is a very small man, has brown hair, blue eyes, 
and a sharp physiognomy. He speaks with his voice pitched at a 
high key, and can speak one or twenty-four hours, just as the case 
demands. He is now serving his second term in the Assembly. 

PATRICK McFARLAN 

Has the reputation of being one of the most civil and agreeable men 
in the House; he is quiet, seldom rising in his seat unless it be to an- 
nounce the name of a bill. He is upwards of fifty years of age, 
rather under the medium bight, wears a pleasant face; he is indepen- 
dent in his circumstances as well as in his principles. He is on the 
committee on the erection and division of towns and counties. 

john j. Mcpherson 

Was born in Le Roy, Genesee county, in the year 1810, consequently 
he is forty-six years of age, although he looks ten years younger; he 
was brought up a farmer, but for the last eight years he has led a 
retired life, having acquired a comfortable competency; he was for- 
merly a Whig, but is now a staunch Republican; he has been super- 
visor of the town in which he lives, and also justice of the peace; he 
was a candidate for the Assembly two years ago, but was defeated by 
the Americans; he occupies a good position in the House, and has as 
much influence as half a dozen noisy members can command; he is 
eminently practical, has a sound, discriminating mind and an unim- 



46 

peachable character; he is on the committee of roads and bridges; is 
a tall, finely formed man, has dark hair and whiskers, grayish-blue 
eyes, a bland countenance and gentlemanly address. 

JOHN MILLER. 

Mr. Miller was born in Columbia county; follows the plow; is a 
Democrat; has been supervisor of the town in which he lives; attends 
the Methodist church. He is one of those practical men whose voice 
and vote on practical and every-day business matters is worth more 
than the eloquence and erudition of men who are merely professional. 
Mr. M. is 43 years of age; a large, heavy, muscular man, with a 
healthy face, dark hair, full face and eagle nose; he is always on 
hand and ever attentive to business. 

SAMUEL J. MOTT 
Is an elderly gentleman; sits in what is termed sleepy hollow, but is 
wide awake to the interests of those whose servant he is. He represents 
the second district of Saratoga county; is on the committee of state 
charitable institutions. Mr. M. is fifty-live years of age; is a farmer; 
attends the Presbyterian church; a temperance man; was identified in 
early life with the anti-masonic movement. In person, is short, 
thick set, has blue eyes, gray hair; is a modest gentleman of consi- 
derable influence. 

CHARLES H. MEAD 

Represents the Fourth District of Onondaga; is a Republican; was 
formerly a Democrat; is on the salt committee; is forty-five years of 
age; married; attends the Baptist church; he is of the common sta- 
ture, rather reserved in his manner; is cautious and deliberative; has 
brown hair, light eyes, and a face closely shaved. Report says he is 
a very substantial citizen, and fair Legislator. 

EDWARD M. MADDEN. 

Senator Madden represents the county of Orange, where he was 
born, has always lived, and where he will probably die, unless politi- 
cal events so shape themselves that his unquenchable love of liberty, 
and intense hatred of slavery should induce him to leave his Lares and 
Penates and migrate to Kansas. Like many other men of mark, he 
is wholly the artificer of his own fortune. He had no advantages of 
early education. From the age of 9 to 14 he commenced fitting him- 
self for the great battle of life as an operative in a cotton factory; 
thence he pursued his studies as an apprentice in a tin shop, graduat- 
ed in a hardware store, and took his final degree as a retail merchant 
at Middletown, where he now has a very extensive saw factory. 
Nature, however, has done much for him. Gifted with a fine consti- 
tution, his iron will, unbending energy, indomitable perseverance, and 
unflagging industry, have combined to make him a hard student and 
a well read man. His mind is well stored with practical knowledge 
and few men are so thoroughly posted in the political history of our 
state or country. There is no man in the Senate of greater pluck or 



47 

nerve. Governed in all his actions by fixed principles, nothing ever 
turns him from his purpose, when his course is once marked out. 
His sterling integrity and incorruptible honesty are as universally 
' conceded as the chastity of Caesar's wife. The state' never had a 
more watchful guardian over its interests. He is extremely sensitive 
ann jealous about all inroads upon the treasury — more so than if it 
were his own private purse. His active business habits make him 
invaluable on committees, and wo betide the unlucky wight who 
comes before him with a doubtful claim. He participates freely in 
all debates, dissecting the subtleties and sophistries of lawyers, with 
the sharp scalpel of common sense. He is a nervous, rapid speaker, 
and no man in the Senate is more earnest, energetic, forcible or con- 
vincing. He goes in a straight geometrical line right to the point, 
without any flowers of rhetoric, but with a directness that there is no 
mistaking. He uses no pearls of poetry or flights of fancy, but 
deals altogether in the purest and strongest Anglo-Saxon. His hard 
facts and statistics, compacted as granite, and his irresistible logic, 
need no ornamentation, as the friends of " Chemung Locks " and Jerry 
O'Brien sorrowfully testify. He always votes in accordance with his 
convictions. No motives of policy, expediency or interest ; no regard for 
individuals or localities; no personal friendships, can make him 
swerve one hair's breadth from his line of duty. He engages in no 
" log-rolling;" never aiding any project of doubtful propriety to secure 
assistance in measures of real merit. There is no member of the 
legislature more disinterested; his only avowed object in coming to 
the Senate, having been to aid in the election of some such repre- 
sentative man as Preston King as U. S. Senator, and to help establish 
a sound state policy — to be one of those not only honest themselves, 
but who would not allow party friends to steal, by winking at schemes 
of public plunder, as has been too much the practice at Albany. He 
is extremely affable, sociable and pleasing, in his disposition and 
habits. He is a man in the very prime of life (38), of medium size, 
sharp blue eyes, dark hair, heavy beard, and wears on his face an 
expression of earnest thought. 

GEORGE MOTT. 

If the Democracy of New York have a true representative in the 
present Legislature, George Mott, of Franklin county, is that man. 
Conservative by nature in all his views and associations, he looks 
upon all reformatory measures with a suspicious eye, and is " death" 
on all the " isms " of the day. He loves the " old order " of things, 
and regards the questions of the day, the most of them, as out of 
place, and forced upon the public mind by designing politicians, for 
other than pure and patriotic purposes. Mr. Mott is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, but far behind the prevailing sentiment 
of a portion of that body, he discards their extreme views of the 
slavery question, and approves of the decision of the General Confer- 
ence of 1856, on the slavery question. He was a warm supporter of 
Mr. Buchanan during the late campaign, and was elected to the legisla- 
ture by some two hundred and fifty majority. 



48 

Mr. Mott is of medium higlit, rather stout built, with dark gray- 
hair, and an intelligent and pleasant countenance. 

He is a man of strong natural abilities, firm and decided, like all 
conservatives, in his positions, and highly respected by his fellow 
members for his sterling integrity. 

Mr. Mott was born at Alburgh, Vt., January 24th, 1806, and is 
therefore fifty-one years old. 

JOSHUA MERSEREAU, 

A French name, and the man who has it carries a countenance indi- 
cative of French origin; the careful arrangement of the hair, the nice 
attention to matters of dress, the graceful gesture and the polite man- 
ner, all go to confirm our opinion that Mr. M. has Norman blood in 
his veins. Mr. M. represents Richmond county ; is on the committee 
of colleges, academies and common schools; is a staunch, adamantine 
Democrat of the old school; he attends the Dutch Reformed church; 
is naturally conservative and opjDosed to what he terms the 
isms of the day. In his own county he has been frequently 
honored by his neighbors, having been supervisor one year, and county 
clerk nine years in succession. Mr. M. is about forty years of age; 
is a gentleman of leisure and fortune; a married man; has dark hair, 
dark brown eyes; wears his whiskers a la militaire. 

NICHOLAS W. MOONEY 

Is from the Fourteenth Ward — the Twelfth Assembly District — of 
the city of New York. He was born in the city of New York, in 
1825, which fact makes him thirty-two years of age. He is a cart- 
man, an occupation he has followed since his majority. He is now 
and always has been a Democrat (a Mayor Wood man). He was 
brought up in the Catholic faith; was a candidate for Assemblyman 
two years ago, but was defeated with the "hard shell " ticket. He 
has been member of the fire department for ten years and is now 
foreman of Hose Company No. 3. 

Mr. Mooney is a short, stout man, with a round head, thick neck, 
full, fat face and broad chest; he has brown hair and dark eyes. He 
never speaks in public, but looks well after the interest of his con- 
stituents. 

JAMES NOXON. 

Senator Noxon is the youngest looking man in the Senate and is 
justly considered a leading member of that body. He was born in 
1818, graduated at Union College in 1838, studied one year in the 
New Haven Law School, and was admitted to the practice of law in 
1841, in the city of Syracuse; has been in partnership with Mr. Lea- 
venworth, now of the House, and Judge Comstock,now of the Court 
of Appeals, and his father, a man of national fame as a leading law- 
yer. Senator N. was originally a Whig, but is now a Republican; he 
represents the Twenty-second Senatorial District; is chairman of the 
judiciary committee and a member of the select committee on the 
Trinity church affairs. Mr. N. is a sound lawyer, an able statesman 



49 

and an eloquent debater; he attends the Dutch Reformed church; is 
married. He is of small stature, has light hair, large blue eyes and 
a pale face; he is a sociable, companionable, free-hearted man, with 
a multitude of friends. 

GEORGE S. NICHOLS 

Represents the Tenth Senatorial District, having been sent there by 
an American constituency. Sometime since he went to California, 
and returned with his pockets filled with rocks. He is a farmer, 
about thirty-seven years of age, rather under the common stature, is 
of the nervous temperament, has auburn hair and blue eyes, seldom 
speaks unless it be to introduce a bill, and then a few words brings 
him to his seat. He is on the insurance committee; and is highly 
respected in all the relations of life. His place of residence is 
Athens, Greene county. 

BENSON OWEN 

Was born in Homer, Cortland county, N. Y., March 10th, 1807. His 
father, Lewis S. Owen, was a physician, who resided in that town 
about 50 years. Mr. Owen was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme 
Court of this state in 1830; practiced his profession in Allegany 
county some three or four years, when he removed with his family 
to the state of Ohio, where he resided until 1844, when he moved to 
Seneca Falls and engaged in the foundry and machine business. He 
has not pursued his profession as a business since his return to this 
state; was collector of tolls on the Cayuga and Seneca Canal at 
Seneca Falls during 1854 and 1855. 

He has a family, consisting of a wife and one child. In person he 
is five feet ten inches in hight, weighs about 130 pounds. He is a 
member of the Republican party and belongs to the anti-slavery wing 
of the old Whig party; is not a member but a regular attendant and 
supporter of the Presbyterian church. He is a man of sound mind 
and acute reasoning power; makes a sound and logical speech. Is a 
tall, thin man, with dark hair, greyish whiskers, very bright brown 
eyes, dresses neatly, is one of the first men in the House, a safe 
counsellor on Legislative matters. Mr. O. seems at home on any 
question, showing a mind well stored with information on general 
subjects. He is on the committee of ways and means. 

J. J. OWEN 

Is a practical printer — followed the " art preservative of all arts " for 
nine years, picking up type in Auburn, Rochester, New York, Havana, 
and elsewhere. In the spring of 1850 he started for California, 
remained two months in New Granada, and then returned home. In 
the fall of '51 he visited California, and was employed as messenger 
for Gregory's Express, on the Sacramento river, for about twelve 
months, when he entered the service of Wells, Fargo & Co., as mes- 
senger in the Golden state. 

Having gratified his desire to travel in our El Dorado, he returned 
to his native state, and purchased a farm in Cayuga county, where he 
4 



50 

now lives. He has been School Superintendent — was elected to the 
Assembly on the Republican ticket, obtaining upwards of nine hun- 
dred majority over the fusion candidate. He is a tall, straight, well- 
formed man, of the sanguine nervous temperament — has light hair, 
blue eyes, fair complexion, and wears a golden moustache — perhaps 
it grew on his face in California. 

He is an amiable, modest man, of few words and quiet demeanor. 
He was formerly a Free Soil Democrat; he does not belong to any 
church, but entertains respect for the religious views of all honest 
men. He is friendly to the temperance enterprise ; is a voting mem- 
ber, but can speak when duty demands his services in that capacity. 
His forte is with the pen. He has had considerable experience as a 
newspaper writer and correspondent, and is regarded by his friends 
as clear and vigorous in the expression of his views on paper. He is 
29 years of age. 

MORACE P. PERRY 

Was born in the town of Moores, Clinton county, in the year 1811; 
now resides in the town of Champlain in the above county. Was a 
Democrat up to about 1834, when a crisis arose at the county seat, 
which determined his action in the future; being refused with many 
other citizens, the use of the county buildings or any other House to 
meet to discuss the subject of free soil, free speech and free men, were 
driven out by the citizens of Plattsburgh and obliged to meet in an 
adjoining town, since which time has been an unswerving friend of 
Republican principles; being in a minority in the county, never has 
held a county office until the present; is strong in favor of prohibi- 
tion ; a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Mr. P. is a short, thick-set man of the .nervous billious tempera- 
ment; has dark hair, large features and herculean limbs; he is a 
warm-hearted man, and his greeting is very cordial; he is on the 
state prison committee. 

JOSEPH H. PETTY 

Represents the Fourth Senatorial District, having been sent to the 
Senate by Know Nothings; he is seldom in his seat; we have no per- 
sonal acquaintance with him, but understand he is a broker; he has 
the reputation of being a clever fellow; he is a good parliamentarian; 
has been in the Assembly and has received other proofs of public con- 
fidence. He rarely participates in debate; he has a round head, red 
face, blue eyes and auburn hair. He is on the committee on banks, 
expiring laws, cities and villages, Kansas, &c. 

HENRY A. PRENDERGAST 

Was born in the town of Ripley in Chautauque County, New York, 
in the year 1821. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of 
Western New York. As early as 1816 we find a member of the family 
in the halls of legislation from the then county of Niagara, which 
county then embraced territory out of which three or four new coun- 
ties have since been made. 



51 

Having settled at an early period and turning their attention to 
agriculture, they became the possessors of some of the finest lands in 
the county and have been considered among the most wealthy and 
public spirited farmers in the west. 

On the paternal side Mr. Prendergast is descended from Irish stock 
and in the early anti-rent difficulties on Philip's patent in Duchess 
County we find the Historical Collections of the State mentioning 
Prendergast as the " big thunder " of that time. He was a native 
of Tiperary in Ireland and the great grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch. 

On the maternal side his ancestors were real Vermonters and were 
among those who bore arms in the Revolution and knew well how to 
prize their dear bought liberties. Capt. Abell, the great grandfather, 
was in most of the severest battles of the Revolution and often has been 
honorably mentioned in history. 

Mr. Prendergast entered Union College in the fall of 1838 and 
graduated in 1842. After finishing his collegiate course he entered 
the law office of D. Mann, Esq., of Westfield, New York, but before 
finishing his studies, his health becoming impaired, he retired to the 
healthy employment of the farm, where for a time he combined farm- 
ing, sporting, literature and a restoration of health. It was amid 
these various avocations that he attended to another important mat- 
ter in life, matrimony. He then retired to a farm of his own in his 
native town and during the time he has been engaged in tilling the 
soil, has contributed largely to the improvement of the stock of his 
county, having imported some of the finest stock that could be ob- 
tained in England. He has refused to enter public life until the polit- 
ics of his county were changed by the sudden springing into existence 
of the American party. Early imbued with the doctrines of the Anti- 
Masonic party in this state, of which his ancestors were among the 
most zealous supporters, and hence feeling it his duty to oppose to the 
extent of his ability the proscriptive doctrines of the new party. In 
fall of 1855 he was induced to accept the nomination for the Assembly 
with about one thousand American majority in his district against him; 
he was opposed by two of the strongest men of the opposite parties, 
but was elected by about 450 majority. He was the candidate of the 
new Republican party lor Speaker, and in the fall of 1856 was nomi- 
nated by the party in his district by acclamation and elected by over 
2000 majority. 

Mr. Prendergast is premier of the house, being chairman of the 
committee of ways and means. He is a man of fine intellect, a good 
speaker and a thorough business man; in person he is tall (nearly six 
feet), of good mould, of the nervous sanguine temperament, has brown 
hair, blue eyes and pale features; he is very frank and genial and is 
honored and respected by all who know him. 

ZOROASTER PAUL 

Represents the Second District of Ontario county; is a Republican, 
was formerly a Democrat. The present is his first term in the 
House. He is now town supervisor; is a native of Washington 



52 

county, was born in 1811; graduated at Castleton Medical College in 
1834; commenced practice in Erie county the following year; removed 
in '45 to Honeoye, where he now lives and has a good practice. Hel j 
stands high as an accoucheur and is very successful in the treatment 
of diseases. 

He was elected in an American district, by a majority of nearly 
one thousand over the highest successful candidate. 

Dr. Paul is a little under the medium stature, has blue eyes, hairi 
turning gray prematurely, has a bold forehead and a face indicating: 
earnest thought and honesty of purpose. 

He is chairman of the committee on medical colleges, societies and', 
schools. 

Was formerly a Democrat; became a FreeSoiler in 1848, voted for 
Hale in 1852; was one of the first and foremost in his county in the 
formation and organization of the Republican party; was elected: 1 
supervisor of his town last spring, by a large majority over the com- 
bined forces of the Democrats and Americans. A man of liberal' 
views in religious as well as in political matters. Is a man of untir- 
ing energy and perseverance; asks nothing except Avhat is right, will i 
submit to nothing wrong. Is 45 years old, 5 feet 6 inches in hight, 
weighs 145 pounds. Was married in 1836 to Miss Susan Taber, of 
Wales, Erie county; his family consists of one son and one daughter. 
Is a self-made man. 

THEODORE M. POMEROY. 

H. Clarence Page, the talented and piquant Albany correspondent 
of the Neii) York Sun, writing under his well known signature "Harry 
Halcyon," thus sketches this Representative in the Assembly. "Mr. 
Pomeroy is a native of Cayuga county, having been born in the town 
of Cayuga, and is now about thirty years of age. He is a lawyer by 
profession; in early life removed to the city of Auburn, in his native 
county, where in 1847 he was elected city clerk. In 1850 he was 
elected district attorney of the county, to which position he was 
re-elected in 1853. In 1850, when the Whig state ticket was beaten 
in his county by 250 majority, he was elected by 79 majority, and at 
the second contest for that office (in 1853) he was re-elected by 500 
majority — clearly showing that no other proof is necessary of his 
popularity at home. Last fall (1856) he was nominated for the 
Assembly and elected by 1000 majority over the combined opposition. 

Mr. Pomeroy is a Republican in politics, a young man of promise, 
and if we are to judge his future by his past, he may well be encour- 
aged to persevere. Fate deals strangely with us all, and often the 
true and deserving are the subjects of her caprices, and must, sooner 
or later, bend to the decrees of stern destiny. We are too happy to 
say, however, that this is not the case in the instance before us; and 
not one of the honors conferred upon Mr. Pomeroy but what has 
been deserved and appreciated, and but what he has " borne them 
bravely." Mr. P. has quite a youthful appearance, is of sanguine 
temperament, medium stature, and is a forcible speaker and a close 
reasoner. Tn the debates in the House, in which he has taken part, 
he has already won a reputation and prominence that commands the 






53 

respect and consideration of his legislative associates, and he has all 
the qualities that lead to personal popularity, and all the abilities 
necessary to defend and vindicate any position he may assume on 
questions coming up before the people for their decision. 

A. W. PECK 

Was born in the town of Brownsville, Jefferson County, New York, 
within a few miles of his present place of residence, is a farmer and 
well to do in the world. At the age of eighteen he commenced 
teaching school, taught winters and worked on a farm summers, so 
alternating from the plow to the pen until he was twenty-five years 
of age. Since that time he has devoted his attention principally to 
agriculture; he has been town superintendent of shools.was formerly 
an old line Whig, is now a Republican. He is a modest, quiet, intel- 
ligent man, about thirty-two years of age, of small stature, has brown 
hair, dark eyes, and a round, ruddy countenance. He belongs to the 
class of good fellows; is on the committee on claims and on medical 
societies and colleges. 

ENOS PUFFER 

Is a giant in stature, a man of great muscular power, with a broad 
chest and sledge-hammer arm and fist, and woe be unto those, who 
provoke his blows, for he has been a blacksmith and knows how to 
strike. He worked at the forge until he was twenty-five years of age 
and then quit the anvil for the pulpit, and commenced preaching the 
Gospel under the auspices of the Episcopal Methodist Conference in 
Wyoming and Oneida counties, where he labored with great ac- 
ceptance. He represents the county of Broome and is chairman of 
the committee on state charitable institutions. He is upwards of six 
feet tall and well proportioned, has dark hair, blue eyes, a florid face, 
and a free, generous heart. He is a jovial and sociable man. 

JOHN E. PATTERSON 

Is a tall silvery haired man, with blue eyes and intelligent countenance. 
He represents the Twenty-seventh Senatorial District; is chairman 
of the committee on grievances, on the poor committee and the com- 
mittee on agricultural affairs. He is fifty-six years of age, an at- 
torney, attends the Presbyterian church; a very upright and re- 
spectable man, who labors industriously for the weal of his con- 
stituents and the commonwealth. 

ALBERT G. PURDY 

Is a native of the town of Plymouth, Chenango county, N. Y. After 
attending common school, at the age of sixteen, he commenced the 
study of medicine, and was admitted to practice when he was twenty- 
one years of age. He commenced the practice of his profession in the 
town of Eaton, where he now resides. A few years since he was 
nominated by the Democrats for the office he now holds, but was 
defeated by Mr. Bailey, of Brookfield. 

Doctor Purdy is forty-eight years of age, five feet eight inches in 



54 

height, well-formed; has a high, bold forehead, mild, blue eyes, brown 
whiskers, and dark hair. He is a practical man, seldom speaks, but 
what he says is to the purpose; is a self-made man, and when of age, 
owed for his medical tuition and had to borrow the means to com- 
mence the world with. He now occupies a high social position; 
is president of Madison County Medical Society — an institution 
in which he has held office for many years. He has been a Re- 
publican since the repeal of the Missouri compromise ; attends the 
Congregational church. He is a member of the committee on claims, 
and as punctual as a clock, in the performance of his duties. 

JOSEPH PEACOCK 

Is a Republican, was formerly a Whig; is a temperance man; a 
member of the free Baptist church; a farmer; a married man; has 
heen justice of the peace, a supervisor of the town, superintendent of 
the canal n pairs. &c. He is a hale and hearty man. fifty-one years 
of age; stout built; has dark hair, blue eyes, broad forehead, and 
eagle nose. 

This gentleman took his position on the Buffalo platform in '48, 
but left the Free Soilers when they began to fraternize with the 
Hunkers a few years afterwards. He is a man of great decision of 
character, and has the confidence of his constituents. 

DAVID REES 

"Was formerly a Democrat, is now a Republican; represents Tioga 
county; was born in the city of Utica; is a bachelor, about forty 
years of age; has worked his way through life in the face of adverse 
circumstances. Is a fine looking man, with large dark eyes and pro- 
minent forehead; has black hair, and an iron temperament. He is a 
mechanic (a blacksmith). 

At the age of sixteen he commenced to learn the business of making 
edge tools, with the firm of Winsor & Morris. At the age of eighteen he 
removed to Little Falls with Mr. Morris and completed the learning 
of his trade. In the year 1836 he went to New York and engaged in 
the business of stereotyping, and was there during the severe business 
pressure of '37, ? 38 and '39. Not succeeding well, he removed to 
Rochester in 1841, and engaged in the employ of the Rochester & 
Auburn railroad. In 1848 he engaged himself to D. C. McCallum, 
Esq., then contractor on the New York & Erie railroad, and was 
located at Port Jervis, Orange county; removed to Owego, Tioga 
countj' in 1851, and has since been engaged by the New York & Erie 
railroad company, in the manufacturing of bridge irons. 

His education was a limited common school one. A fondness for 
reading characterized him in early life, and to this habit of reading, 
together with the highest moral training of his parents, he owes all 
that he is. Of strong, marked characteristics, he has always been 
esteemed a leader rather than a follower of those with whom he has 
been brought in contact. Of social temperament, yet apparently dis- 
tant, distrustful of his abilities unless fully aroused. 

During his residence in Rochester he often received the commenda- 



55 

tion, in the social societies of the day, of his fellow citizens; and was 
one of the first in an organization of mechanics in that city for social 
and intellectual improvement. He also was elected to the highest 
offices in the Odd Fellows' Lodge, and acquitted himself with 
honor. When the charter for People's College was obtained in 1834, 
he was appointed one of the trustees, and has devoted much time and 
money to the establishment of that institution. 

He received the largest majority ever given for member of Assembl}' 
in Tioga county. 

JOSEPH H. RAMSEY. 

An old proverb declares that articles of the most value are done 
up in small packages. Mr. Ramsey is the smallest person in the 
Senate — being only five feet four inches in height, precisely the sta- 
ture of one of the most gifted kings of France. Mr. R. is well-pro- 
portioned; of active temperament; wears an amiable and pleasant 
face, which kindles with a genial smile when he recognizes his 
friends. He has dark hair mixed with a few threads of silver, mild, 
blue eyes, which sparkle when he speaks. He is forty years of age, 
a native of Schoharie county; studied law with Jedidiah Miller; has 
a good practice at the bar; was a delegate to the convention at Syra- 
cuse when the Republican party was organized; was a member of the 
Assembly in 1855, and elected to the Senate the year following. He is 
on the railroad and other committees. Speaks fluently and sensibly, 
and is a general favorite. 

EDWIN ROSE, 

Member from the First District of Suffolk, is a native of Bridge- 
hampton, and a descendant of one of the original settlers of the town 
of South Hampton, which settlement was made in 1640; born Feb'y 
14, 1807. After having received a common school and academic 
education, entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1826, 
graduated at that institution in 1830, and was in July of that year 
commissioned a brevet 2d lieutenant in the 3d regiment of artillery. 
During his service in that regiment he was engaged, in 1832, in the 
Black Hawk war with the troops, under Gen. Scott, and was present 
at the treaties made by the U. S. commissioner with the Sacs and 
Foxes, and the Winnebagoes. 

In July, 1834, he was detached from his regiment for service as 
topographical engineer, and in that capacity was engaged, under the 
direction of the secretary of war, in surveying the shores of lakes 
Huron and Michigan, and in making the preliminary survey of a 
railroad from Detroit to St. Joseph. While engaged in this latter 
service his company, Captain Frasers, of the 3d artillery, was ordered 
to take post in Florida, and composed a portion of the detachment 
commanded by the lamented Major Dade, which was massacred 
by the Seminole Indians in December, 1835. 

Upon the re-organization of the company in 1836, he was ordered 
to join his company in Florida, and was engaged in what is known 
as Jessup's campaign, which terminated in the defeat of the Indians 



at the big cypress swamp, in February, 1837. During this period of 
service, Mr. R. was appointed by the state of Illinois as engineer on 
the Michigan & Illinois Canal, which appointment he declined. In 
June, 1837, having accepted the appointment of engineer on the 
Detroit & St. Joseph Rail Road, he resigned his commission in the 
army and entered upon his new duties in the state of Michigan. In 
1839 he removed to his native place, where he has ever since resided, 
in the occupation and improvement of his paternal inheritance. 

In 1847 Mr. R. was nominated by the "Whig party of his District as 
a candidate for member of Assembly, and was elected by a large major- 
ity, he being the first Whig member that Democratic old Suffolk ever 
sent to the Legislature; in 1848 he was re-nominated and returned by 
a largely increased majority. In March, 1849, was appointed by Gen- 
eral Taylor, collector for the port of Sag Harbor, which office he held 
for four years. 

In 1853, Mr. R. was nominated by the Whigs of the First Senate 
District as their candidate for Senator, but the question of a prohi- 
bitory law entering into the canvass, and Mr. R. being among the 
opponents of such a law, he was defeated. In the autumn of 1856, 
Mr. R. being a supporter of Mr. Fillmore, he was nominated by the 
friends of that gentleman as a candidate for the Assembly, and receiv- 
ing also a large vote from the Democratic party, he was elected by a 
large majority. He is a man of fine figure, erect and commanding; 
is of the active temperament; has blue eyes, brown hair, and pale 
features; evidently a man of heroic impulses and daring courage. 

VOLNEY RICHMOND 

Was born in Rensselaer county, in the District he now represents. 
Was apprenticed to a carriage maker; followed that business fifteen 
years on his own account; then kept a public-house for several years. 
In 1840 was elected sheriff, then moved to Troy. At the close of the 
six years (in which time he served as sheriff and under-sheriff), he 
went into the foundry business; afterwards made the tour of Europe. 
On his return he purchased a farm in Hoosick, where his family now 
resides. He was formerly a Whig, is now a Republican. Attends 
the Presbyterian church; is a man of fortune; is fifty-three years of 
age, of sanguine, nervous temperament; has large, clear eyes; a 
ruddy, healthy face; heavy whiskers; brown hair sprinkled with sil- 
ver. Is on the bank committee and the committee of sixteen. Is a 
director and vice-president of the Central Bank, Troy. He is a capi- 
tal financier and thoroughly posted on all matters relating to banks 
and banking institutions, and his naturally strong mind has been im- 
proved by travel and intercourse with eminent men. 

EATON J. RICHARDSON. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Richardson takes such an 
interest in the divorce bill, which he originated and introduced into 
the Senate, he is a bachelor, and one of the handsomest men in the 
Senate. Mr. R. is a native of Utica; a lawyer by profession; a man 
of literary taste; of metaphysical turn of mind; a calm, close reasoner, 
whose forte consists in the investigation of first principles; has the 



57 

reputation of being a good office and a good court lawyer. He is 
about forty years of age, rather above the ordinary stature; has a long 
head, square forehead, dark hair and dark eyes, a long nose which 
would do no discredit to a jew; has a pale countenance, and wears a 
goatee. He represents the Nineteenth Senatorial District. 

SAMUEL T. ROBERTS 
Is the son of Samuel Roberts the famous canal and Rail Road contractor, 
and his successor in business. The subject of this sketch remained 
in that branch of business six years, when he retired and became a 
citizen of Brooklyn, where he resided sixteen years, and during that 
time was Alderman one year and Assessor in his ward four years in 
succession. He was tendered the nomination for Assembly, but de- 
clined the honor. Afterwards he moved to the city of New York, 
and invested largely in real estate, and embarked in the broker's busi- 
ness, he then bought out a line of stages, the Broadway and Fourth 
Avenue Line. At present he is not engaged in business, but is a 
gentleman of leisure, spending his winters in the city, and his sum- 
mers in Saratoga. He represents the Sixteenth District of New 
York city; he is on the committee of charitable institutions. In 
person he is short, with a flushed face; is prematurely bald; is about 
forty years of age; a pleasant, sociable, jolly, sensible man, with a 
heavy purse and a great soul. Gives $1,000 per year to the poor. 

CYRIL RAWSON 

Hails from Eagle, Wyoming county — being sent to the Legislature 
by a Republican constituency. Mr. R. is a native of the old Bay 
state, fifty-fours years of age, five feet seven inches in height, of the 
nervous, sanguine temperament; has dark hair, reddish whiskers, 
blue eyes — wears glasses; has a mild countenance; is a man of firm 
resolution and sterling integrity; a temperance man; attends the 
Universalist church; is a mechanic. Has been inspector of schools, 
town clerk, supervisor, and session justice. Mr. R. was a school 
teacher several years. He is a very faithful and efficient man and 
heartily opposed to extravagant expenditures of the public money. 
Wyoming has no reason to complain of her public servants in the 
Legislature. 

JOHN D. RHOADES, 

The member of the Assembly from the First District in Onondaga 
county, is a farmer in easy circumstances. He is of the Puritan 
stock, and was born in Hampshire county, Mass., in 1801. He has 
been a resident of the town of Elbridge most of the time since 1810. 
Heretofore, in his politics he has been a Whig — an active, untiring 
worker — which made him loved by his friends and feared by his poli- 
tical enemies. He is one of that class of individnals whose motto is, 
" never give up the ship." He is connected by marriage with some 
of the most influential families in Onondaga county — most of whom 
have been his bitter political opponents; but he has, by fidelity to his 
party and devotion to his principles, obtained a station which many 
individuals in that community consider the height of their ambition. 



58 

In personal appearance he is tall and dignified; in speech and 
argument he is direct and to the point. He has a tact of making all 
understand what he means, and the rare quality of sitting down 
when he is through — which many never can learn. He is a Baptist, 
though not bigoted or sectarian. On the temperance question he has 
been as firm as the pyramids of Egypt, freely giving his time, money 
and influence to close up the groggeries and stop the traffic. 

When the great Whig party split on the rock of slavery, he was 
among the first who were found gathering together its broken frag- 
ments, uniting them with those of the Democratic party who would 
not bow to the giant Moloch of slavery, and organizing them into the 
present Republican party. His hatred of slavery and intemperance, 
his firmness and integrity of character, his energy and stability of 
purpose, eminently qualify him for opposing the corruptions of lobby 
influence and the venality of party demagogues. He is decidedly 
popular with the laboring classes, and a warm friend of the poor. 
We predict that the enterests of the empire state will not suffer from 
the power placed in his hands by the people of old Onondaga. 

NATHANIEL ROE 

Represents the Sixth Assembly District of the city of New York (the 
eighth) the empire ward of the Democracy. He was, formerly, from 
Goshen, Orange county; has lived in New York twenty years; is 
owner of real estate ; was brought up on a farm. He attends the 
Presbyterian (Dr. Spring's) church. He is a man of excellent morals 
and unimpeached integrity. Mr. R. is forty years of age, of small 
stature, wears a bright, cheerful, good natured face; has a broad, 
prominent forehead, blue eyes and fair complexion. He is universally 
esteemed for his gentlemanly deportment. He is on the committee 
of public lands, and is one of the constant members who watches 
carefully the welfare of his constituents. 

Mr. R.'s father, Thomas W. Roe, was in the war of 1812 — he died 
in the year 1828. In 1854, Mr. R. was a member of the common 
council of the city of New York, and on the committee of public build- 
ings on Blackwall's Island; also, on ordinances; was a delegate to 
the Tammany hall convention which nominated delegates to revise 
the state constitution, in 1846. 

JAMES J. REILLY. 

Mr. J. Reilly, although a member of the minority party in the 
House, is a general favorite; he is a sociable, pleasant and companion- 
able young man ; was born in the city of New York, in 1832, conse- 
quently is only twenty-four years of age. He is a Democrat, dyed in 
the wool, and watches with an eagle eye the interests of his constitu- 
ents and his party. He attends the Roman Catholic church. His 
father died when he was seventeen years of age, and being anxious to 
do something to support a widowed mother, two sisters and a younger 
brother, he ventured to California in pursuit of a fortune. He 
remained in the golden land about two years and then returned to his 
native city, where he shortly afterwards received an appointment as 



59 

clerk in the New York post-office, under the Hon. J. V. Fowler. Mr. 
Reilly discharged the duties of clerk to the entire satisfaction of all 
parties concerned, and resigned the position a short time before he 
was elected to represent the Thirteenth Ward in the General Assem- 
bly. Mr. R. is a well-looking young man, with a full, merry face, 
blue eyes, dark hair and whiskers, and a well-developed figure. He 
dresses neatly; speaks occasionally and votes according to the wishes 
of his constituents. He is on the committee of public printing, and 
is prompt and faithful in the discharge of his duties. 

JAMES RIDER. 

Senator Rider represents the First Senatorial District; is a resident 
of Jamaica, Queens county; a true temperance man; has been grand 
deputy and worthy patriarch of the Sons of Temperance; was a Soft 
Shell Democrat, but the Softs left him because of his cold-water pro- 
clivities; was elected to the Assembly in 1854. Mr. R. is a man of 
sterling integrity, and fair ability, esteemed wherever he is known, 
and his honest face commands the confidence of all who see him. He 
is a deacon of the Presbyterian church; reputed wealthy; is about 
sixty years of age, hair quite gray, eyes blue, mouth and chin finely 
cut, features of the Puritan cast. 

JOHN J. REILLY. 

Mr. Reilly was born in the Seventh Ward of the city of New York, 
in the year 1829, and is now twenty-eight years of age. At an early 
age he became an apprentice, and acquired that branch of mechanical 
art known as " house carpenter." and worked at his trade until 1852, 
and in January, 1853, was appointed clerk in the register's office, in 
the city of New York, where he remained until 1855, when the Amer- 
icans elected the register, when he was ousted. A short time after- 
ward he was appointed by R. B. Connelly, Esq., county clerk of the 
county of New York, to fill a vacancy to a clerkship in his office. 

In 1854 Mr. Reilly was a candidate for legislative honors, receiving 
the Democratic nomination in the Seventh Ward (Fifth Assembly 
District), against Edwin L. Smith, American and Soft Shell, and S. 
T. McKinney, Whig. Mr. R. was beaten by Mr. Smith by 262 major- 
ity. In 1855, he was re-nominated by the Democrats, and ran against 
Edmund P. Barrow, Whig and Republican (who also received the 
American vote), but Mr. Reilly beat the combined opposition by 157 
majority. He was again nominated on the Democratic ticket last fall 
(1856), and ran against Edwin Merritt, American, S. L. Woodford, 
Republican, and Thomas L. Faron, Democrat. The vote in the Dis- 
trict stood thus: Reilly. 2106; Merritt, 1156; Woodford, 720; Faron, 
148; giving him nearly one thousand majority over the next highest 
candidate, and eighty-two majority overall. 

Mr. Reilly has, for five years, occupied the position of secretary of 
engine company No. 6, popularly known as " big six," and is gener- 
ous, even to a fault, as all firemen are. They are the chivalry of 
modern times— and the only true chivalry now extant. The hand 



60 

may be rough, the mind uncultivated, but the heart is kind, the per- 
son brave, and the spirit undaunted and unflagging. 

Mr. Reilley is a young man of pleasant exterior, is no hand at 
forensic display; has many friends in the legislative circle, and repre- 
sents his constituents truly and faithfully, and is in every way worthy 
of their confidence and esteem. 

SIDNEY SMITH 

Is from Onondaga county — represents the Second District; is a 
Republican, was formerly a Democrat. He is a temperance man, a 
farmer — forty-two years of age; is a voting, not a speaking member. 
Mr. Smith is a man of common size; has dark hair, brown eyes, red- 
dish whiskers, and a round, full, healthy face. He is a plain, honest, 
unpretending, straightforward man, a hater of flams and shams and 
proud pretensions, and a lover of the right and true — just such a man 
as no one would dare to approach with a bribe. 

We have a number of such men, of different political predilections, 
in the House, and it is no flattery, but fact, to say, that office needs 
them more than they need office. 

A. M. SMITH 

Is a son of Captain D. Smith; is a native of Otsego county, a farmer 
and speculator; has always been an active business man; has dealt 
in cattle, wool, butter and cheese; was educated at Oxford Academy; 
has been frequently honored by his constituents ; has been supervisor 
of the town; has had considerable military experience; was com- 
mander of a regiment nine years; was two years grand treasurer of 
the Grand Lodge of New York ; was two years representative to the 
National Encampment, and two years in the Senate. He is a man 
of energetic physical power, sociable, friendly; does not court nor 
shrink from opposition; has impetus, efficiency, energy; has blue 
eyes, dark hair, stout-built frame. 

W. M. SMITH 

Is a native of Paterson, N. J.; removed to Alleghany county, N. Y., 
when five years of age; at fifteen, commenced his academic studies at 
Wyoming, N. Y. ; at twenty-one graduated as doctor of medicine at 
one of the New England colleges; commenced practice in the town of 
his adoption, and has been engaged since in the duties of his profes- 
sion in that place, with but brief intervals. Early and ardently en- 
gaged in the temperance movement. His antecedents are democratic. 
In the division of the Democratic party he espoused the principles of the 
Soft Democracy. Sympathized and was actively engaged in the earliest 
movements of the Republican party. Was chosen supervisor of the town 
in March 1857. As a boy, was poor and struggled hard to acquire 
an education; is now in the enjoyment of comparative independence, 
and has one of the most extensive rides in western New York. He is a 
tall, straight, handsome man, with sloe-black eyes, raven hair and 
dark complexion; a man of keen perceptions, sound judgment, and 
nice taste. His parents were from New England, and of the revolu- 
tionary stock. 



61 

JUSTIN A. SMITH 

Was born 1818, in the town of Whitehall in the county of Washington; 
was brought up on a farm, has been clerk in a store; when quite a 
young man was inspector on the Champlain Canal; afterwards 
returned to farming. In 1849 he was employed by the Saratoga and 
Whitehall Railroad Company, and is now in the service of that com- 
pany. Mr. S. is a stout-built, hearty, heavy man, with a full, round, 
rosy face, large, blue eyes that sparkle with fun and good nature; he 
is rather bald, but the lack of hair shows a fine head, which shows no 
lack of brains. 

Mr. S. was in the Assembly in 1854; he is now on the committee 
on expiring; laws, one of the committee on the division of towns and 
counties, and chairman of the committee on the internal affairs of 
towns and counties. Mr. S. is a married man; attends the Protestant 
Episcopal church. Mr. S. speaks with considerable unction, and 
when excited his speech approximates to eloquence. He represents 
the magnificent counties of Washington and Saratoga, eveiy acre of 
which has been rendered classic by revolutionary scenes and remini- 
scences. 

C. P. SMITH, 
Senator from Kings county, is a gentleman who has risen from a very 
small beginning to be a person of decided influence. He is a native of 
New England; came to the then village of Brooklyn about twenty-five 
years ago; entered into the practice of law; was successful; elected 
clerk of the common council when Brooklyn became an incorporated 
city; he was afterwards elected mayor. He has filled many offices in 
that city, and stands among her citizens as one of the most respected 
and energetic of her enterprising citizens. The election of such a 
man does both honor to the Senate and to the city who sends him. 
He is a magnificent looking man, with large, black eyes and heavy 
brow, which forcibly remind one of Daniel Webster. 

MARK SPENCER, 

Senator from New York, is an elderly gentleman, with a head of hair 
white as snow, though he possesses the activity and energy of a young 
man of thirty. Mr. S. is a retired merchant, living in the Ninth Ward of 
that city, in a beautiful cottage surrounded with fruits and flowers. 
He is a gentleman active in the benevolent institutions of the day, 
and an ardent member of the Episcopal church. In his habits quiet 
and retired, yet active in the discharge of his duties as Senator. 
Among all that know him the wonder is, how it came to pass that the 
city of New York could send so amiable and accomplished a gentle- 
man to represent them. He stands very high in the Senate, as 
evinced by their electing him as their president, although not a mem- 
ber of the dominant party. 

GEORGE T. SPENCER 

Was born in Middleton, Connecticut. When a lad he spent his 
summers in a factory amid the hum of spindles and the clank of 



62 

machinery; when older grown, he spent six years at school fitting 
himself for college; he graduated at Yale in 1837; then taught school 
for one year; afterwards read law in Hartford, in Judge Ellsworth's 
office; and afterwards, pursuing his studies in Syracuse, was ad- 
mitted to practice in 1841, and put out his shingle in the town of 
Corning, Steuben county. He is a Republican; on the judiciary and 
other committees; he is forty-two years of age, tall and well-shaped, 
has brown hair and blue eyes. He is a man of marked ability, but 
never enters the arena of debate without putting on his armor, and 
the lance he tilts is pretty sure to impale his opponent. 

GEORGE G. SCOTT 

Is a man of fine personal presence, tall, straight, and of faultless form; 
the ordinary observer would select him in a crowd, as a man of supe- 
rior intellect and power. His soft, light hair and magnetic eyes, and 
fair skin, denote that delicate sensibility and exquisite feeling for 
which cultivated men of the nervous temperament are noted. 

Judge Scott was born in Ballston, Saratoga county, in 1811; 
graduated at Union College in 1831; was admitted to the bar, and 
commenced practice at Ballston Spa in 1834, where he still practices 
his profession with eminent success. In 1838 he was appointed 
Judge of Saratoga county, but resigned before the expiration of his 
term. He was elected to the Assembly in 1855, and returned to his 
seat in 1856; he is a Democrat, and one of the strongest men in the 
Legislature*. In debate he is calm, deliberate, and argumentative; 
as a legislator he is careful, judicious and conservative; he is a mem- 
ber of the judiciary committee, and the committee of sixteen. It may 
not be amiss to state here, that in the county where he lives and in 
neighboring counties, he has such a hold on the confidence of the 
community, that he tries more cases as a referee than any other man in 
the county. 

DANIEL E. SICKLES 

Has a national reputation, and is really one of the most noticeable 
men in the Senate, as he is one of the ablest debaters. It will be 
remembered that he was once bearer of despatches to London, and 
secretary of legation under Buchanan; hence, he is now in full feather 
and one of the strong powers behind the throne. It must not be for- 
gotten that he once sent a challenge to John Van I'uren, who pre- 
ferred a feast of humble pie to pills of lead, and powders of sulphur 
and salt-petre — yes, Dan has pluck, and will fight in an emergency. 
He is a native of Glen's Falls, Warren county, but his parents 
moved to Brooklyn when he was quite young. From what we can 
glean of his history, he was a " fast boy," whose early political edu- 
cation was democratic — he being a graduate of Tammany hall, and is 
now one of the sachems in that national school of politics. He is 
certainly one of the ablest young men in the Democratic party in the 
state of New York. As a manager he has few superiors; as a speaker 
he is choice in the use of language, clear in his statements, and logical 
in the management of his argument. 



63 

He has been in the Assembly; now represents the Third Senatorial 
District. He is on the committee of grievances, Indian affairs, and 
judiciary — at the present writing he is seeking office for his friends. 
He is a lawyer; a married man; rather aristocratic; generous and 
impulsive. In person he is tall, and well built; is of sanguine, ner- 
vous temperament; has brown hair, wears a brown moustache a la 
French style; has large, light, magnetic eyes, and a superb head. He is 
about forty years of age — a sharp sickle, reaping laurels in the field 
of politics. 

ANDREW SHEEHAN 

Is seldom in his seat and we have not the pleasure of his acquaintance, 
and have to depend upon others for the scanty materials for a sketch. 
He represents the Fourth Ward of the city of New York; has just 
returned from California, with a full pocket and broken health; he is 
an Irishman, a Catholic, a Democrat. Ill health has detained him at 
home when he would like to have been in his seat attending to the 
wishes of his constituents. 

S. SOMERVILLE. 

Mr. Somerville is from Warren county, and on the committee of 
charitable and religious institutions. He has been detained at home 
by sickness during a greater part of the session. He is a quiet, hon- 
est, fair-looking man, in the prime of life; votes with the Republican 
party; is a farmer, and has the appearance of an independent lord of 
the soil. 

ERASTUS STICKNEY 

Is from the county of Orange, and represents the Third District in 
that county; he is a Democrat; a farmer; a man of family; has been 
justice of the peace. He is about forty-six years of age, rather below 
medium height; has brown hair tinged with gray, small, blue eyes, 
and a smoothly-shaven face. He is a member of the salt committee. 

ROBERT STAPLES 

Represents the Third District of Monroe county; is a Republican; a 
temperance man; attends the Methodist church; has been justice and 
supervisor; is sixty-three years old; hair iron gray, whiskers ditto; 
face strongly marked. He is a man of standing and character. He 
is chairman of the committee on public printing. 

JAMES S. SLUYTER 

Is one of the most popular members of the young Democracy. Long 
before we knew him, we were prepared to find him the same, tal- 
ented, efficient, social and generous gentleman that he is. Always 
affable and always dignified. Mr. Sluyter occupies the front rank in 
the Democratic party in the House — and while owing to his party 
being in a minority in the House he has not been ostentatious; yet 
there have been few men so energetic and so successful as he, in car- 



64 

rying through the Legislature, the measures to which they were com- 
mitted. We have admired his course. 

Mr. Sluyter was married in 1848, to Sarah, daughter of H. Mc- 
CJellan, of Hudson — a lady, as we have been told, of rare beauty, 
goodness and accomplishments. — (The lady, it will be observed, bore 
the same name and was an own cousin of the first wife of Judge 
Hogeboom of the House). — She died within six months of the marriage, 
and Mr. Sluyter has ever since been a widower. 

Mr. Sluyter is 33 years of age, was born in Columbia county, where 
his father was 30 years a clergyman — of the Dutch Reformed Church. 
Mr. S. was educated at Williams College, Massachusetts ; went to New 
York in 1841, entered the office of David Dudly Field, as a student 
at law; entered into partnership with Mr. Field in 1849, which rela- 
tion still exists. Mr. Sluyter is a consistent Democrat, true to his 
party and true to himself; is a gentleman of commanding appearance, 
polished address, warm impulses and pleasant expression. 

Mr. Sluyter represents the Tenth Assembly District of New York 
city, and is a working member of three of the most important com- 
mittees of the House — the judiciary committe, the committee on 
commerce and navigation, and the special committee to revise the 
criminal code. He was elected by a majority over the united vote of 
three rival candidates. 

BENJAMIN SQUIRES. 

Mr. Squires represents the Second District of St. Lawrence. He 
is a native of Vermont, came to this state when a boy fourteen years 
of age, and followed the occupation of farming. When of age, he 
extemporized himself into a carpenter, and was a good workman the 
first day he worked at the trade (being a natural mechanic). He 
continued in that business about twenty years, when he was elected 
sheriff of the county of St. Lawrence. He was supervisor of the town 
for six years in succession; also held the office of justice of the peace 
and that of postmaster in the town of Pierpont. 

Mr. S. was formerly a Whig — one of the first Whigs in the town 
of Canton who came out in favor of Republicanism. He was sent to 
the Assembly by the Republicans, and they were so well satisfied with 
his actions in the House that they returned him to his seat. He was 
for many years a near neighbor of Silas Wright, and relates many in- 
teresting reminiscences connected with the history of that eminent 
and honored statesman. They were associated, not only in civil but 
military life; though differing in politics, they always agreed upon 
other points, and were very near and dear friends. 

Mr. Squires attends the Methodist church; he is sixty years of age; 
a large, full-breasted, fine looking man, weighing 220 pounds. He is 
a man of great influence in the House, and has ten times the power 
of all the noisy Nancys who hop up to explain, apologize and excuse 
themselves, at the expense of the esteem of their friends. He is a 
man of sterling honesty and true courage. May his shadow never be 
less. 

He is chairman of the committee on state prisons, and a member 



65 

of the select committee on the question of capital punishment. He is 
marked for soundness of judgment and unswerving integrity. 

MARTIN SCHUTT 

Is a native of Ulster connty; lives in the town of Olive; is a farmer, 
and licensed attorney. He was formerly a Whig, but is now an 
American. He is a justice of the sessions; opposed to prohibition; 
attends the Methodist church; is a married man. He has dark hair 
and eyes, and a dark complexion; is a quiet, nervous, serious, care- 
ful man, of unexceptionable character. 

He is now forty-two years old; married in 1838, then not worth one 
dollar; has no children; is a justice of the peace, and has been for eleven 
years; justice of the sessions in 1851; admitted to the bar in 1851: 
now resides in the village of Shakar in the town of Olive; owns house, 
lot and office, and doing a good business. 

EBENEZER S. STRAIT 

Represents the Third District of Rensselaer county; is an American, 
a lawyer, practicing in East Nassau; is a married man, thirty-two years 
of age; is on the committee of erection and division of towns and 
counties, and the committee of privileges and elections. He is tall 
and well-formed; of the nervous temperament; has light brown hair, 
blue eyes, and a well-developed forehead. He stands well in the 
House, and has labored faithfully and zealously for the welfare of his 
constituency. 

EDMUND G. SUTHERLAND 
Is from White Plains, Westchester county; he is on the committee of 
public printing, and on the census committee. Mr. S. is a man of 
superior ability as a political writer, he stands high in the esteem of 
the party which honored him with its confidence and its suffrage. He 
is the editor of one of the oldest and ablest journals in the section of 
the state where it is published. He is a tall, noble looking man, with 
dark hair, brown eyes, rather pale features; his large perceptive facul- 
ties give his well-developed forehead a retreating look; a phrenolo- 
gist would pronounce his head eminently fitted for legislative business. 
He has the good taste to vote according to the wishes of his constitu- 
ents, without wasting the time of the House and the people's money 
by making Buncombe speeches. 

SIDNEY SWEET. 

Senator Sweet, by a singular coincidence, has been put upon the 
committee of salt; but he is a man whose character needs no such 
preservative to keep it pure amid the corruptive influences of political 
associations. Mr. S. is an eminent business man, a banker in Dans- 
ville, Livingston county. He is in the meridian of life; has brown 
hair, blue eyes, and a smoothly-shaven face. He holds a check rein 
on all who have a claim on the public purse; he is on the committee 
of claims and poor laws, and watches, with sleepless vigilance, for 
the best interests of his constituents. 



66 
RICHARD U. SHERMAN. 

Mr. Sherman was born at Vernon, in Oneida county, 1819. He 
received a good school and academical education, and at the early 
age of fourteen commenced life on his own hook, as a merchant's 
clerk in an extensive wholesale establishment in Utica, where he 
received a thorough commercial education. 

It had been his intention to adopt the profession of engineering, 
for which he possessed great natural aptitude, but the financial diffi- 
culties of that time putting a stop to all active public work on the 
railroads and canals, he was compelled to abandon his cherished 
wish. 

Having a distaste for trade, he engaged, on completing his mercan- 
tile apprenticeship, in 1840, in the publication of a campaign news- 
paper at Utica, devoted to the success of the Whig Presidential 
candidates. The reputation he gained in this effort led to his engage- 
ment, in the subsequent year, as the leading editor of the Utica Daily 
Gazette, when that paper was established. 

In his political ideas he was of the progressive school. Differences 
of opinion between himself and the proprietor — who was attached to 
the conservative wing of the Whig party — induced him to leave the 
editorial management of the paper at the end of the first year. 

He was subsequently engaged for six years as editor of different 
newspaper publications. He conducted the Herkimer Journal during 
the Clay campaign of 1844 with marked spirit and ability, and in 
1846 he edited the Daily Advertiser at Oswego. 

In the year following he established, at Rochester, in connection 
with Erastus Clark, (present recorder of Utica,) the Daily Evening 
Gazette, a paper devoted to the nomination of Gen. Taylor for the 
Presidency, in which cause it rendered an energetic and consistent 
support. 

He subsequently engaged in the publication of the Morning Herald 
in Utica, of which paper he was the principal editor during the first 
three years of its existence. The Herald was established as the 
organ of liberal Whig principles, in opposition to the Gazette, which 
had become wholly devoted to the policy of the Silver Greys. 

The rivalry between the two papers was fierce and bitter, and Mr. 
Sherman was subjected to heavy pecuniary loss in his efforts to place 
the Herald on a successful footing. 

He ceased his connection with the Herald on his election as Clerk 
of the Assembly, in 1851. The paper had at that time succeeded in 
gaining a large circulation, and an extensive and prosperous business. 
It has since swallowed up its old rival, and the two papers, the 
Herald and Gazette, are now united and doing good service in the 
cause of Republicanism. 

He was first elected Clerk of the Assembly over a number of pow- 
erful antagonists, and, though he entered upon the office without any 
previous experience in its particular duties, he showed himself at 
home in the position from the start, and soon gained a reputation for 
executive ability equaled by few of his predecessors and surpassed by 
none. He occupied the position five years, retiring at the expiration 



67 

of that time to assume a position, perhaps more honorable, but cer- 
tainly no more arduous or responsible, as a Member of Assembly from 
the First Assembly District of Oneida county. 

Mr. Sherman possesses a mind of great acuteness. His perceptive 
faculties are uncommonly strong, and in most matters with which he 
has to do, he reaches, almost by intuition, the conclusions which, with 
the generality of men, are only arrived at by laborious study. His 
mind is all order and system, and he possesses great power of analy- 
sis. He is quick in thought and action, clear headed and capable of 
performing a great amount of mental labor in a limited time, and 
with a variety of subjects on his mind at the same time does not get 
confused. These elements of character have given him his wide- 
spread reputation as a parliamentarian. 

He is a terse, vigorous and forcible writer, drawing his arguments 
from facts rather than from theories, but makes no pretensions as a 
speaker. 

Frank and generous in character and affable in his manner, he 
makes warm friends wherever he is known. At home he enjoys an 
unbounded personal popularity. He has gone through nearly the 
whole range of municipal honors in his city, and has tor several years 
been one of the most valuable members of the board of supervisors 
of his native county. As an estimate of his standing in the latter 
capacity, it may be mentioned that in his first year, though the junior 
member of the board, he was elected its presiding officer. He has 
been prominently connected with nearly all the public enterprises in 
his county for the last ten years. 

He took an active part in the organization of the militia under the 
new law of 1851, and now commands one of the finest brigades of 
uniform troops in the state. 

He was chief engineer of the fire department of Utica during a 
portion of the incendiary period, when the emergency called for the 
exercise of the highest powers of command. 

He has, for many years been at the head of the political organiza- 
tion of his party in Oneida county, and enjoys a reputation for great 
sagacity and efficiency as a politician. 

C. W. TALLETT. 

Mr. Tallett was born in Oneida county, in 18 19. He is of German 
descent. His father died when the subject of this mention was but 
three years old, At the age of four he was taken into the family of a 
distant relative, in Chenango county, and trained to agricultural 
pursuits. 

As soon as he had passed his minority, he engaged in teaching 
common school, and in the spring of 1841 entered Clinton Seminary, 
where he remained three years, passing through the necessary pre- 
paration for admission to college. Want of means induced him to 
engage again in teaching, an employment of which he was passionately 
fond, and in which he was eminently successful. 

He then commenced the study of medicine, under Drs. Thomas & 
Gardner, in Whitestown, and graduated at the College of Physicians 



68 

and Surgeons, New York, in 1849. He soon after located in Whites- 
town, commenced the practice of his profession, and was twice elected 
town superintendent of common schools. 

In the spring of 1853 he removed to West Exeter, Otsego county, 
his present residence, and engaged in agriculture during the summer, 
and teaching during the winter. 

In the spring of 1856 he visited Kansas, for the purpose of fixing 
on a future home, and contributing to the cause of freedom in that 
persecuted land. He passed up the Missouri river in company with . 
Major Buford and regiment, and learned all the plans and designs of 
that distinguished fillibustering expedition. He took a claim of 160 
acres on the Santa Fe road, nine miles south of Lawrence, and com- 
menced improvements by getting out timber for a frame house, &c. 
He heard much of the testimony taken by the Congressional commit- 
tee, and became acquainted with Govs. Ecbinson and Eeeder, and 
other distinguished characters in the territory. He was stopped and 
searched by Marshal Donaldson's posse, at the point of the bayonet 
(in the hands of Buford's men); witnessed the murder of John Jones 
at Blanton's bridge, on the 19th of May, and the destruction of the 
printing press, the Free State hotel, and Gov. Robinson's house, on 
the 21st. 

After witnessing much of the wrong and outrage perpetrated upon 
the free state settlers in that territory, and finding it impracticable to 
locate his family there, he returned to Otsego county about the first 
of July, and was soon induced to take the stump for Fremont and free- 
dom. He was presented as a candidate for the Assembly in the Second 
District of his county, and was elected by 700 majority over his popu- 
lar opponent, Gen. Brown of Cooperstown. 

Mr. Tallett is a small, spare man, with a thin, sallow face, dark 
eyes, black hair; wears moustaches; is quick and nervous; has a 
good mind ; speaks with electric force. 

HIRAM TIFFT 

Was born at Venice, Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1811, and is conse- 
quently forty-five years of age. He is a farmer by profession, indus- 
trious, enterprising and intelligent. He has none of that false pride 
which keeps some men from soiling their hands in their own fields; 
but seems proud of his business. In 1839 he emigrated to Illinois, 
but returned on the death of his father, in 1849, and took possession 
of the family estate. 

Mr. Tiffl was formerly a Democrat. He stepped on the Buffalo 
platform in '48, and has since consistently adhered to its principles. 
He did not vote for Pierce in '52, believing him to be unsafe; neither 
did he vote for Scott, nor Hale. Voted for E. B. Morgan at that 
election, against the Democratic candidate (a northern doughface), 
although receiving the censure of his own party friends. 

He early took a decided stand in the temperance reformation, and 
has since maintained a consistent attitude in every ordeal through 
which it has passed. When clouds loomed up the darkest, then most 
has his cheering voice been heard. It is to his firmness of purpose, 



69 

reliability and principle, with an honesty of intention above reproach, 
that he owes his present position as a state legislator. He is a 
hearty-looking man, has brown hair, reddish whiskers, and ruddy 
face. He is a man of energy and strict integrity. 

AUGUSTUS J. TIFFANY 

Was the nominee of the American party in the First Assembly 
District in Erie county (Buffalo), but was supported by the Repub- 
licans, and voted with the Republican party in the House. He was 
formerly a farmer, but is now engaged in the forwarding and commis- 
sion business, and of course in favor of the elargement of the canal, 
and goes for discriminating tolls. Has been a member of the third 
House for twenty years and is well posted on parliamentary usages. 
He is on the committee on commerce and navigation. Mr. T, is forty- 
seven years of age, of stout build, broad shouldered, and a man of 
great muscular strength; has dark hair, dark eyes, brown whiskers 
snowed with white. He is a man of warm and generous impulses; 
a practical business man, with energy enough for a township of 
lymphatic men. Gerrit Smith gave him the name of Buffalo. 

SOLON O. THACHER. 

The subject of this sketch is a fair specimen of " young America;" 
one that can, dare and do. He represents the Third District of Steuben 
county, and this is his first term. He has been a Whig, but is now 
an out-and-out Republican, earnest for the advancement of humanity. 
He was born and brought up at Hornellsville, and cherishes a patri- 
otic desire for the advancement and prosperity of the home of his 
boyhood. In Alfred Academy he received a course of education pre- 
paratory for college, after which, he entered Union College, where he 
graduated with considerable honor; after which he studied law at 
Albany, and was admitted to practice in March, 1856. Mr. Thacher 
is now twenty-six years of age; and possesses the elements of an 
effective speaker. Has light hair, a pale, healthy face, mild, blue 
eyes, with a soul behind them. 

Mr. T. is a man of nice taste, and his talents promise a bright 
future. It is pretty generally conceded, that he made one of the most 
eloquent speeches heard in our legislative halls during the session. 
He is on the committee of colleges, academies and common schools, 
and on the committee of privileges and elections. 

ABRAHAM G. THOMPSON 

Represents the Second Assembly District of Suffolk county, and is on 
the sub-committee of the whole, and the joint library committee. He 
was a member of the House from the city of New York in 1845; is a 
Democrat; attends the Presbyterian church; is a married man, forty 
years of age; a stout, hearty-looking person, with rosy cheeks and 
dark curly hair, dark eyes, and black heavy whiskers; he is a genial, 
generous and brave fellow ; a practicing physician; received his aca- 
demic education at Columbia College; graduated at the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in 1838 ; afterwards studied two years in the 



70 

hospitals of Paris ; pays particular attention to surgery. Dr. T. was 
born in the city of New York, The names of his ancestors are in- 
terwoven in the history of our country. He is lineal descendant, in 
the female line, of Elder William Brewster, of Plymouth Rock mem- 
ory. He is a son of Jonathan Thompson, for many years collector of 
the port of New York — the man who presided at the first political 
meeting held at Tammany Hall, and who was chairman of the general 
Republican committee for ten years, including the period of the war 
of 1812, and known by the name of the " honest collector.'' 

Dr. T. is one of those attentive and efficient men who labor 
assiduously to serve those who honor them with their confidence and 
suffrage. He not only works willingly and faithfully, but intelli- 
gently and efficiently, and is one of the most useful men on the com- 
mittees of which he is a member. 



GARDNER TOWNE 

Was born in New Hampshire; came to Jefferson county in 1806, 
where he has lived most of the time since; he is a farmer, well-to-do 
in the world, and has frequently had proof of the confidence of his 
neighbors, who have given him almost every town and county office 
at their disposal. He is now serving his second term in the Senate; 
he was formerly a Democrat, is now a true Republican. It affords us 
pleasure to state, that he is a temperance man, and has been for many 
years; he delivered the first lecture on temperance in the county in 
which he resides; he attends the'congregational church; is married; 
sixty years of age; has a large head, full, round, light eyes, a large 
face, and gray hair; a man of good judgment and excellent character. 

INGHAM TOWNS END 

Is a native of the old Bay state, and came to this state in his infancy 
with his parents, who located in the town of Floyd, Oneida county, 
where king David Moulton, the monarch of the Democrats of that 
section lives. Mr. T. is a practical farmer, owning a fine estate, 
where he now lives; he has a dairy of 190 cows on his farms. Mr. 
Townsend has had some military experience, having been colonel of 
a regiment of cavalry. He is a Republican, and represents the Fourth 
District of Oneida county; he is on the agricultural committee; is an 
elder of the Presbyterian church; is a married man, but has no child- 
ren of his own; he has, however, kindly cared for the children of 
others. One fine boy about three months old, was- left at his door 
one wintry night about ten years ago (his parentage has not yet been 
discovered). Mr. T. is about getting an act passed to make this fortun- 
ate foundling, one of his legal heirs. A little girl, taken from the 
" home of the friendless " in New York, and the daughter of a rela- 
tive — now a handsome, young lady, are also to share the munificence 
of this generous and humane man. 

Mr. T. is fifty-eight years of age, of common size; has a calm, 
benevolent face, mild, blue eyes ; is somewhat bald, and of the nervous, 
billious temperament. 



71 

FRANKLIN TOWNSEND 

Is one of the solid men of Albany — a rich man, and the son of a rich 
man. He deserves great credit for the manner in which he has 
devoted himself to intellectual culture. Unfortunately, many young 
men in his circumstances, instead of reading and thinking, and acting 
for themselves, would yield to the temptation of wealth and the lures 
of luxury, and become drones or dandies; but he is a practical busi- 
ness man, whose habits of industry are worthy of imitation. For 
several years he has been connected with one of the leading firms in 
Albany, in the iron trade. He has been mayor of the city which 
he now represents in the Assembly; was formerly a Whig, but for 
reasons best known to himself, he turned Democrat, and is now a 
leading and influential man in the Democratic party. In the House 
he is regarded a sound man, of liberal views, and his pithy and sensi- 
ble speeches are always heard with respect. He is on the railroad 
committee, also on the militia and agricultural committee. 

He is about forty years of age (although he looks much younger); of 
ordinary size and stature; has light brown hair, full, blue eyes, pale, in- 
tellectual features, and a brown goatee; is very urbane and pleasant in 
his address, and graceful and dignified in his deportment. He main- 
tains a high social position, and is very popular in the city and county 
in which he lives. With his advantages and talents, he can climb 
higher rounds in the ladder of distinction. 

ALONZO S. UPHAM, 

Known throughout the state as the wagon-boy of Le Roy, was origin- 
ally a carriage-maker, now does an immense business in Le Roy, where 
he is engaged in the manufacture of railroad cars; he is one of the 
best if not the best political manager in the Senate, and is rather ac- 
knowledged as the leader of the Republican party in that body. He 
introduced and carried through the Senate, the bill for changing the 
Canal policy of this state. His speeches are short pointed and prac- 
tical. He is a man of great muscular power, being six feet in his 
stockings and well proportioned. He has dark hair, light eyes, a 
broad but not high forehead. He has been a member of the Assembly, 
and he now represents his district for the third time in the Senate. 
We should like to see him in Congress. 

BLOOxMFIELD USHER 

Is a native of Herkimer village, in the county of Herkimer. His 
father died when he was young, and having to depend upon his own 
resources, he acquired a knowledge of the hatting trade, which he af- 
terwards carried on extensively on his own account. In the year 1851, 
he was appointed one of the superintendents on the Erie canal. At 
the expiration of the term of three years he moved to Pottsdam, St. 
Lawrence county, and commenced the banking business, which he has 
managed with marked success. Mr. Usher is forty-three years of age, 
of the sanguine, nervous, billious temperament, of common stature, 
has black hair, sharp black eyes, red cheeks and smooth features; he 
is a man of ready business habits, a shrewd manager, a live politi- 



72 

cian, with fair prospects ahead. He is a good financier; in the 
Senate he is attentive to business and takes to legislating as though 
he had been born a senator. He represents the Fifteenth Senatorial 
District, is chairman on the committee of state prisons, on the com- 
mittee of internal affairs of towns and counties, and on manufactures. 

R. B. VAN VALKENBURGH. 

The subject of our sketch was born in the county of Steuben, in 
this state, 1821, and is therefore now about thirty-five years of age. 
In 1836, he attended school at Auburn, and went from thence to the 
city of Buffalo, where he was a resident during the 'patriot' excite- 
ment, and was a member of the "City Guard," commanded by Capt. 
John T. Fay. During the prevalance of the Canada excitement, he 
enjoyed intimate relations with Gen. Sutherland, of the Patriot 
forces, and was tendered the appointment of aid to him, which he 
was prevented from accepting only through the influences and inter- 
positions of his friends. However he did his share "on the right 
side," by aiding in cutting the steamer Caroline out of the ice in 
Buffalo harbor, and by a singular accident was prevented from being, 
on board of her when she was destroyed by the Canadians. 

Col. Van Valkenburgh is a lawyer by profession and commenced 
his studies in the office of the well known firm of Henry W. Rogers 
and Joseph G. Masten, of the city of Buffalo. In 1838, he returned 
to Steuben county, completing his (academic) education at an institu- 
tion in Prattsburgh, in that county, and soon after resumed his law 
studies, with industry and perseverance, in the office of Hon. D. 
Rumsey, of Bath, being admitted in 1843, since which time he has 
been connected in business with Mr. R., meeting with much success in 
his profession. In 1854 and 1856, he was engaged, together with 
Hon. John H. Reynolds, of Albany, before the standing committee of 
the Senate, which had in charge the bill providing for the construc- 
tion of a bridge across the Hudson river, at the city of Albany, and 
there the two met in battle array some of the best talents of the state, 
Hon. Joshua A. Spencer, Hon. Amasa J. Parker, and others. The 
result of that memorable contest in state legislation, before the com- 
mittee and in both Houses, is well known — the committee reported 
favorably and the bill passed the Legislature and became a law. In 
1854, a favorable report was first given by the Senate committee on that 
subject, although the matter had been before the Legislature, in dif- 
ferent shapes, for nearly fort\ r years. 

In 1851, he was the Whig nominee for the Assembly, and, although 
the Democratic ticket succeeded about 400 majority in the District, 
he was returned by 130 majority over his opponent. He was again 
put on the course by his friends, in 1856 — in face of his own declen- 
sion, and was returned by about 1,250 majority over Hon. G. Dennis- 
ton (Am,), who represented the District in the Legislature, last win- 
ter. In 1852, Mr. Van Valkenburgh was appointed colonel of the 
sixtieth regiment, New York state militia, and in 1855 was appoint- 
ed by the governor of the state, as a member of the commission to 
make and adopt rules and regulations for the government of the state 
military forces. 



73 

Col. Van Valkenburgh, too, has been connected with that "art pre- 
servative of all arts," and was, in 1840 — 41, editor of The Constitu- 
tionalist, the Whig organ in the county of Steuben. 

He is of good stature, and has a peculiarly melodious voice, very 
like that of Pierre Soule, ex-U. S. Senator and ex-minister to Spain, 
although the colonel is native "and to the manor born," and has not 
the "accent." He is a forcible debator, as we Avell remembered in the 
Assembly of 1852, and, he can be relied upon, is able to vindicate any 
position he may assume on any question. In the present House of 
Assembly he occupies a prominent position. As chairman of the com- 
mittee which has under consideration matters pertaining to the city 
of New York, in which its good government, municipal and political 
is concerned. Personally Col. Van Valkenburgh is pleasing and 
agreeable, and has deserved all the kindness and confidence that he 
has received at the hands of his constituents and his friends. 

We copy the above from the New York Sun. Mr. Van Valkenburgh 
is a tall handsome man, with dark hair and full dark eyes, even and 
ruddy features, and is really one of the most noticeable men in the 
House. 

ADAM VAN ALLEN 
Was born in the town of New Scotland, Albany county, is now 44 
years old, and next the eldest of 6 brothers — all Republicans in the 
fullest sense of the word — were previously all Whigs, as was their 
father, who during his life time held various town offices. At the age 
of 14 he came to Albany with his whole patrimony (viz: a 5 franc 
piece, which he yet possesses), followed by his mother's prayers; is 
now engaged in the lumber trade and has been successful in all his 
business operations; is a member of the Reformed Dutch church in 
the city of Albany, as were his parents; has been alderman of the 
ward, in which he lived, afterwards supervisor two years, when he 
retired from business and devoted himself to agriculture for two years. 
Again returned to the city when his constituents again returned him 
to the board of supervisors for 3 successive years and until he posi- 
tively declined being a candidate for any office. Mr. Van Allen is a man 
of sterling integrity and great moral worth, and extraordinary good 
sense, not a talker, but a worker. He is chairman of the committee 
on banks and a member of the committee of sixteen. In person he is 
rather of full habit, has a round healthy face, lit up with expressive 
eyes, wears "mutton chop" whiskers, and is somewhat bald on the 
crown. He is a self-made man and is one of the substantial men of 
the city of Albany. He has a host of friends in the House and com- 
mands a large amount of influence in the political and social circles 
in which he moves. 

JOSEPH B. VARNUM, Jr. 

Was born at Washington, D. C, in the year 1817, and hence, has now 
arrived at the age of about forty years. He is the son of H. M. Var- 
num and the grandson of Gen. J. B. Varnum, who was for more than 
twenty years a member of Congress from Massachusetts, speaker of 
the House of Representatives, and president of the Senate. Speaker 
Varnum took with him to Washington his son James, who marrie 



74 

and settled there, becoming largely interested in property at the capital 
city, but died in 1821; and what is singular, is, that his father died 
on the same day at his residence in Massachusetts; the letters an- 
nouncing their respective deaths having passed each other on their 
way. On the same day and month, twenty-five years afterward, his 
widow died, in the city of Washington; some 17 years previous to 
which she had married Hon. John Varnum, of Massachusetts, (a dis- 
tant relative of her first husband) who went into Michigan, some 
twenty years ago, and died there. These particulars are given because 
of the fact that the subject of our sketch has frequently been set down 
as the son of Speaker Varnum, of John Varnum, and of an uncle of 
the same name, engaged in the mercantile business in New York, in 
distinction from whom he adds to his name "Junior." What might be 
added as an additional "coincidence" is, that both uncle and nephew 
married sisters; and hence some confusion has ensued from the iden- 
tity of names and connections. 

Of Mr. Varnum's early life we know but little. He graduated at 
"Old Yale" in 1838, studied law in the office of Chief Justice Taney, 
in Baltimore, where he was admitted to the bar, but subsequently 
moved to New York, where he entered into practice, and where he 
has met with success in his profession. In 1849, he was an advocate 
of Gov. Seward's election, and was himself returned to the Legis- 
lature (the same fall) where he took an active part in the well known 
"railroad controversies." He was again returned in 1850 — '51, to the 
Assembly, and during the extra session of that year was speaker of 
that body, in the place of Mr. Raymond, who went upon a European 
tour. In 1852 he declined a re-election, and in 1853 was the Whig 
candidate for Congress in the Sixth District of the city of New York, 
but was beaten by John Wheeler (Dem.) and shared the fate of others, 
who "sailed in" on the Whig platform, but "went down" with 
Gen. Scott, and other Whig candidates "too numerous to mention," 
as they say in the handbills. 

He was nominated in the fall of 1855, by the Americans, for As- 
sembly, from the Fifteenth Ward, but declined, and Hon. Wm. A. 
Guest was nominated, who was elected over Hon. F. A. Conkling 
(Rep.) and the Democratic candidate, Mr. Guest, was re-nominated 
last fall by the Americans, but declined running, when Mr. Varnum 
was taken up by them, and elected. In the Fitteenth Ward (which 
comprises the 16th Assembly District), the American candidates were 
all defeated, except Mr. Varnum, who must have received some Re- 
publican and Democratic votes to elect him. In politics, Mr. Varnum 
has always been a Whig, and inclined to " Silver Grey," or what is 
called in more modern times, "Straight Whig " side, on the slavery 
question. He is understood to sympathize with the Americans in all 
their sentiments, but not in all their anti-catholic views, and agrees 
with the Republicans in condemning the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, and its result — but regards the general question of the ex- 
tension of slavery in new territories as one which can only be pro- 
perly settled by the Supreme Court of the United States, or by some 



75 

new compromise between the (so-called) sections of the Union, con- 
sidering the constitutional question as not so clear on either side, and 
therefore as not properly the subject of political warfare. These con- 
clusions are, probably, the result of his long residence on " neutral 
ground,'' the district of Columbia. 

Mr. Varnum is very pleasing in his personal relations, and has cer- 
tainly met with his due share of success in his political life. Politics, 
like railroad stocks, are fluctuating, and very uncertain, and, in our 
opinion, (judging from our own experience), one needs a great deal 
of fortitude and perseverance — not to say anything of energy and 
talent — to always ride triumphant on the wave of success. Mr. Var- 
num is an effective speaker, convincing more by the force of his 
reasoning than by eloquent peroration or passionate invective, and is 
as happy in his conclusions as he is forcible in argument. He is a 
member of the committee on ways and means and of the committee 
on the incorporation of cities and villages, and has a most arduous as 
well as a most responsible duty to perform. — N. Y. Sicn. 

Mr. Varnum is a fine looking man, has dark hair, touched with sil- 
ver; wears a heavy beard, has an honest face, and wears spectacles, 
speaks with great earnestness and eloquence when interested in 
debate. 

DAVID WHITING 

Represents the First District in Greene county; is a merchant and 
manufacturer, keeps a coal yard, owns a sloop on the North River; is a 
Democrat, a temperance man, a deacon in the Dutch Reformed church. 
He is 47 years of age, has light hair and blue eyes; not a speaker; a 
very careful, cautious man. He is a member of the committee on 
trades and manufactures. Resides in Athens. 

CHAUNCEY R. WEEKS 

Was in the Assembly in 1848, and was, at that time, a Whig; he is 
now a Republican. His father was in the House forty-four years ago 
and effected the organization of Putnam county from Dutchess, and 
gave the grounds to the county for the county buildings. 

Mr. Weeks is about forty-five years of age; was born in Putnam 
county. He learned a trade, but afterwards engaged in the menagarie 
business and imported large numbers of wild animals — lions, tigers, 
leopards, elephants, camels, &c, &c. He has also been engaged in 
mercantile pursuits. He owns a farm and has an interest in some of 
the boats on the North river. 

He attends the Presbyterian church ; is a man of fortune. He sel- 
dom speaks, but always votes according to his convictions of right and 
duty. He is an honest, upright, whole-souled man, of standing and 
character, whose word is as good as a bond. Although he does not 
take a very active, or, rather, noisy part in the proceedings of the 
House, he has none the less influence on that account. He is on the 
committee on state prisons. 

He is a tall, well-formed man, quite gray; has a round, handsome 
face, brown eyes and pleasant address. 



76 

SETH WAKEMAN 

Is one of the most efficient and influential members in the House, 
being an earnest, intelligent and untiring worker, a man of fine in* 
tellect and unexceptionable character, a ready debater and a cogent 
reasoner. 

He is a self-made man; was left an orphan, his father dying during 
the last war, while in the service of his country. 

He first learned a trade. When of age he was elected constable; 
being in a justice's office frequently, he, by force of circumstances, 
occasionally attended suits before a justice, and was finally persuaded 
by his friends to commence the study of law. 

He was twenty-six years of age at the time he commenced reading 
law, and was elected justice of the peace, a position he held for several 
years. He now stands at the head of the bar as a jury lawyer in 
Genesee county. 

He was district attorney six years, county treasurer one year, one 
of the superintendents of the poor two years. 

He was a member last year, being elected in a district where the 
opposite party had previously carried the elections triumphantly. He 
stood by the prohibitory law then, and will this year discharge his 
duty conscientiously on the great subject of temperance. 

He is chairman of the committee on commerce and navigation, and 
second on the judiciary and railroad committees. 

He is a very agreeable, social man, well constituted to win friends 
and keep them. It is generally conceded, that he is one of the ablest 
men in the House. 

In person he is of medium stature, has mild blue eyes, a pale plea- 
sant face, light brown hair, and a well-developed head. 

He speaks spontaneously, and with considerable unction. 

JAMES WADS WORTH 

Is a tall son of York, finely formed, with dark hair, large soul-lit 
eyes and pale features. He is perhaps the most eloquent man in the 
Senate, that is, he pays more attention to the rules of rhetoric and 
the flowers of speech, than any other man in that body. He is related 
to the great Wadsworth family living in the western part of the state, 
is a lawyer, about forty years of age and belongs to the purer class of 
politicians. He is a Democrat; is on the judiciary committee and 
the joint library committee ; takes a deep interest in the Toll question 
and the affairs of Trinity Church. Mr. Wadsworth would attract 
notice in any deliberative assembly. As a speaker he would compare 
favorably with many of the most distinguished floor members of 
Congress. 

JAMES WESTERVELT 

Hails from New Jersey; went to the city of New York when about 
eleven years of age; is a mechanic, a master-builder. He now lives 
in Rockland county and represents it in the Assembly; has held many 
offices of honor and trust in the town where he resides and had suffi- 
cient popularity to defeat the combined forces of his political oppo- 






77 

nents. He is a fine, fresh looking man, in the prime of life; has a 
full, round, rosy face, blue eyes and brown hair; he is an agreeable 
man, fond of a joke but attentive to business; he is on the committee 
of expenditures of the House. 

ARTHUR WOODS. 

Mr. Woods is a valuable and useful member on the floor. His 
familiarity with parliamentary rules renders him a troublesome oppo- 
nent, and at the same time enables him to frequently carry his point 
even against the opposition of a majority. The experience he has 
had in the House has been diligently improved, and he is never at a 
loss for a rule by which to support and enforce a point of order. In 
debate, there are few more ready speakers on the floor, and none 
more prompt in an off-hand, unpremeditated speech. His appearance 
is prepossessing and his voice good and style of speaking unequal, 
sometimes making capital hits, at other times sinking below his 
standard. Probably no member of the present session is more 
troublesome to the majority or more dreaded by them when any politi- 
cal party ^measure is before the House. 

Mr. Woods has a ready flow of language, and a quick conception 
of his subject. He is never at a loss for words, and the faci- 
lity with which he enters into the debate on any bill, evinces a 
good store of general information. In politics he is consistent and 
unyielding, always fighting to the " bitter end " for pure Democratic 
principles, and never setting aside his political sentiments for the sake 
of expediency. He is constantly in his seat, and entitles himself as 
much by his diligence and industry, as by his abilities, to the confi- 
dence of the important constituency he represents. The above was 
written by a reporter from New York. 

Mr. W. is a native of New York, of Irish descent — was early left 
an orphan, and owing to a suit at law, the property left by his 
father was sacrificed. He, with his brother, however, by their 
industry, economy, and enterprise, acquired a handsome property. 
Mr. W. is a Catholic, a mechanic, a bachelor, a member of the com- 
mittee on insurance. 

JOHN H. WOOSTER 

Has had some experience as a legislator. He is now serving his second 
term as a law-maker. He comes before the public with a good name, 
won by his lamented father in the front rank of true democracy. He 
is a practicing lawyer in the town of Newport, and is considered one 
of the ablest men in the profession in the county. 

During the recent campaign, he rendered good service in the state 
of New York, and in the state of Pennsylvania, addressing thousands 
of persons, on the great issue involved in the presidential contest. _ 

He has studied the political history of the country, and made him- 
self thoroughly familiar with the great question, which absorbed all 
others in the late canvass. Mr. Wooster is a rigid reasoner, dry and 
logical; tropes, images and figures of rhetoric, seldom if ever embel- 
lish his speeches, but his arguments are sound, practical and con- 



78 

vincing. When assailed by an opponent, he can be very severe, andl 
is disposed to lay on the lash without mercy. 

We are not positive, but it is our impression that he is not in favor 
of the Maine law in all its provisions, although personally temperate 
in his habits. He is a small slender man, with light brown hair, blue 
eyes and a thin spare face. 

He has every qualification for a leading member of the Legislature, 
and we have no doubt he will take a prominent part in the proceed- 
ings of the Legislature. 

Mr. Wooster studied law with the Hon. Ezra Graves, and was elect- 
ed to a seat in the state Legislature in 1851. He is a native of New- 
port, son of Judge S. Wooster, and is about 38 years of age. 



OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE. 



WILLIAM RICHARDSON, 

Clerk, was born at Great Berkham stead in the county of Hertford- 
shire, England (the birthplace of the poet Cowper). He is thirty- 
five years of age and the eldest of a family of nine children, six of 
whom are now living. When the subject of this sketch was five years 
of age, his father moved to London, where he resided seven years. 
Sailed for this country in 1834. On his arrival in this country, went 
to Ohio and was soon after apprenticed to the printing business at Mt. 
Vernon, worked at the business about twelve months, when the con- 
cern failed and he was obliged to leave; in '37 went into a store in 
the capacity of clerk. 

In 1840 he moved to Albany which was then alive with the "log cabin" 
excitement. He was a Harrison boy and heartily sympathized with 
the Whigs. In '41 he was employed as clerk in the Hudson Street 
Temperance House, the next year he went into the umbrella business, 
sold out in '46 and opened a paper ware-house; was married in '44 to 
Miss Mary Freeman. He is a member of the Baptist church, was first 
Grand Worthy Associate of the Grand Division of S. of T. of Western 
New York, was a Liberty Party man in '44, a Free Democrat in '48, 
and Republican in '56. The following sketch of his personal appear- 
ance we copy from group of sketches in the "Ilion Independent." 

"The very attitude of the one at the left of Ives, indicates one of 
the prominent traits of the man. He leans upon the table, as he leans 
upon his friends, confident that it will not fail him. His form is manly 
full, and perfect, in its development. He is healthy, in body and soul, 
and upon his broad, full face, and in his blue eye, there is stamped, in 
unmistakable language, the impress of our noblest manhood. Neither 
do his natures belie him, he is one of nature's noble men. The stranger 
would trust him, and boldly make a draft for kindness and truth, nor 
would the draft be dishonored. His complexion is as fair as a child's, 
his countenance as sunny and trusting. But the man is full grown and 
full of iron. We know of none who act more singly from their con- 
victions of duty, or who have more moral courage. He is one of the 
world's tireless workers. In convention, or committee, or in the open 
field, he will perform more labor, in a given time, and more thorough- 



80 

ly and quietly, than any man we ever knew. He is prompt and clear 
headed, as a parliamentarian; in his hospitality unbounded; in his aid, 
to every good work, generous; in his friendships warm and unwaver- 
ing. He never wearies, in carrying out his purposes; has a host of 
friends; and in his private and social relations, a complete and mo- 
del man." 

William E. Mills, Assistant Clerk, is from Clarence, Erie 
county. He is thirty-seven years of age, about the common stature; 
has a full, pleasant face, blue eyes and brown hair; he is a real good 
fellow, and true gentleman; he is unmarried. 

A. N. Cole, Engrossing Clerk, is a thin, lathy man, with dark 
eyes and pale features. He is an able writer, and the editor of an influ- 
ential journal in Wellsville, He is about thirty-eight years of age, a 
civil and obliging man. May his shadow never be less. 

Cornelius S. Underwood, Journal Clerk. — His position is a labor- 
ious one, but he has performed its duties with entire satisfaction to 
all concerned. He is a practical printer, forty-two years of age; is 
tall and straight; has brown hair, blue eyes, and auburn whiskers. 
He resides in Auburn, Cayuga county. He has an army of friends in 
the House. 

Luther Caldwell, Deputy Clerk, is thirty-four years of age, 
married; a mechanic, in the employment of the New York & Erie 
Rail Road ; a county politician, and a stump speaker — the grand expel- 
led arch traitor to Fillmore Hindooism, others expelled for their 
independence being only ordinary traitors. Mr. C. is a man of ave- 
rage stature ; has brown hair and whiskers, laughing eyes and a fluent 
tongue. 

C. G. Fairman, Senior Deputy, is just what his name implies, a 
fair man, save in complexion — that is dark, and his eyes are black as 
sloes. He is rather under the medium size, good-looking, polite and 
pleasant, frank and free from affectation. He has been connected 
with the press, and writes with considerable nerve and force. He is 
thirty-five years of age, and married ; a printer by trade. 

E. S. Payne, Librarian, is a gentlemanly man, quiet and dignified 
in his demeanor, short but trim built; has a light complexion and 
large, blue eyes. He has been superintendent on the canal, and has 
held other offices. 

Smith Philips, Assistant Librarian, is from Montgomery county. 
He is a young man, formerly a Democrat; decimated while in the 
post office because of his Republican principles. He is quite lame; 
has dark hair, an open countenance and pleasant address. 

N. P. Hitchcock is Sergeant-at- Arms. He is a native of Hines- 
burgh, Vt., born in 1810, was brought up to the trade of a machinist. 
He left the green mountain state when a child, and has since lived in 
Central New York; has kept hotel at Chenango and Utica for many 
years. Was formerly a Democrat, joined the Free Soilers in '48, and 
early united with the Republican party. He attends the Universalist 
church, is a married man, took to politics when a boy, was in the 
State Soft Convention at Syracuse at the time of the Short Boy row, 



81 

served as under sheriff in Chenango, and supervisor in Utica; speaks 
in public occasionally. He is traveling agent for J. D. Bridges, a 
hardware dealer. He is just the man for the post he occupies, is 
courteous and obliging, and yet preserves the best of order. He has 
a pleasant face, the index of a kind heart, is of nervous sanguine 
temperament, has blue eyes, and brown hair and whiskers. He is a 
universal favorite. 

Daniel M. Prescott, Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms, was born in New 
Hartford; is 38 years of age, a farmer, was a Whig, attends the Uni- 
versalist church, is a temperance man and a married man. 

He is about five feet ten inches in hight, of fair proportions, has 
brown hair, large blue eyes, a full, round face, is noted for his kind- 
ness and civility. 

Mr. Prescott is a brother to Hon. Amos Prescott, who occupied a 
prominent position in the House in 1856. 

George R. Waldron.-Is the Post Blaster, a post he fills to the sa- 
tisfaction of all persons connected with the House. 

He was born in Mechanicsville, Saratoga county; is a practical 
printer and senior editor of the " Democratic Republican," an able 
and influential journal, published at Hamilton, Madison county. 

He has been connected with the "Hamilton Eagle," and the '•Ham- 
ilton Courier." 

He was a Democrat up to the time of the Cincinnati convention, 
when he bolted at the nomination of Buchanan. 

Is a member of the Congregational church; is a temperance man 
from principle, in theory and practice. 

He is forty years of age, has a full forehead, light brown hair, light 
blue eyes and a pale face. He is a quiet, modest man, and commands 
a ready and vigorous pen. 

Hugh Magee, Assistant Postmaster, is a native of Ontario countv; 
now lives in Steuben county; is 60 years of age, upwards of six feet 
in height, weighs about 170 pounds; has been a printer. He, with 
his father and two brothers, was engaged in the war in 1812; was in 
six different engagements, and was severely wounded in the battle of 
Long Woods, Canada; is a pensioner; was a radical Democrat in 
the days of Clinton and Tompkins; always opposed slavery; attends 
the Methodist church. Is always at his post, and is universally 
respected for boldness, benevolence and integrity. 

Gurdon B. Taylor, Janitor, was born in Delaware county, 1819, 
now hails from Orleans county; is a farmer; was a Democrat, taking 
Free Soil ground, in 1848; joined the Republicans when their party 
was inaugurated; is a temperance man; attends the Baptist church; 
in person is of ordinary stature, hair dark, eyes grayish blue, face 
rather thin ; wears heavy whiskers ; is very prompt and attentive to 
business, and is very highly esteemed; although a young man, he is 
now living with his second wife. 

John F. Curtis, Keeper of the Assembly Chamber, was born in 
the town of Norway, Herkimer county, N. Y., in 1801; by the death 
of a fond father, was left in early life dependent on his own resources, 
6 



82 

for support. Being possessed of a kind and amiable disposition, with 
firmness and conscienciousness large, and self-esteem low, his qualities 
and worth are only to be known and appreciated by acquaintance 
and observation. His business has been mechanical and mercantile; 
has held most of the town offices, and is now supervisor of the town 
where he resides. 

He acted with the Democratic party until 1848, when a sense of 
justice impelled him to advocate the Free Soil principles, in which he 
has been constant and active, and consequently is now a Republican. 
He is now fifty-five years of age; is five feet nine inches high; has 
black eyes, dark hair, and light complexion. He resides in the town 
of Huron, Wayne county, N. Y. 

Nathan Newhafer, Door-Keeper, is a native of Wittenberg, 
Germany — the famous town where Martin Luther nailed his thesis to 
the church door. Mr. N. came to this country in 1844. He is a 
general agent for the sale of land and insurance;- lives in the city 
of Rochester; is forty-one years of age; has dark hair and dark eyes; 
speaks with the peculiar accent of his people. He is a married man; 
is an Israelite, a very polite and agreeable person. Has held office 
in Rochester. 

John Lewis is one of the Assistant Door-Keepers, a post he filled 
with credit three years since. Mr. L. is a native of Wales; came to 
this country twenty- three years ago, and located in Oneida county, 
where he followed farming. He now lives in Cattaraugus county, 
where he " speculates " in butter and cheese. Mr. L. is a pleasant, 
sociable, polite old gentleman, sixty years of age, is short and stout- 
built; has gray hair, a full face, blue eyes and bushy eye-brows. His 
door is directly back of our desk, and we have frequent opportunities 
to test his urbanity. He is strict and faithful, and performs the func- 
tions of his office to the very letter without giving offence to any. 
Long may he wave (the gate). 

He has been a member of the Baptist church for fory-two years, 
and has been a deacon in the church for more than twenty years. He 
was, originally a Whig, is now a Republican ; has labored industriously 
and successfully among the Welsh — an estimable class of citizens — 
among whom he occupies a prominent position. 

Sluman Frink was born in Albany county; is forty years of age; 
formerly a Whig, now a Republican; attends the Presbyterian church ; 
is a married man; has fair hair, blue eyes, and pale complexion. He 
takes the place of Patrick Farrel, First Assistant Door-Keeper. 

A. A. Harris, Door-Keeper of the Gentlemen's Gallery, is from Erie 
county; is forty years of age; attends the Orthodox church; was door- 
keeper in 1849; was assistant engineer in 1850, when the Capitol 
went by steam. 

A. H. Stoutenburgh has charge of the Ladies' Gallery, was born in 
the city of New York, is fifty years of age ; was brought up a mer- 
chant; formerly a Whig; has held office under the general government, 
is an earnest politician; is five feet nine inches in hight erect and of 



83 

good build; has blue eyes and dark hair, dresses fashionably and waits 
upon the ladies politely. 

S. Wheeler is one of the Assistant Door-Keepers, the only officer 
who was reappointed, he having served in that capacity last year; he 
probably owes that compliment to his urbanity, and uniform courtesy, 
and the efforts of his friends. He is from Dover, is thirty years of 
age and is a merchant. He was formerly a Whig, is now a Republican; 
attends the Baptist church, is married, has been justice and super- 
visor, also one of the associate judges of the county of Dutchess; he 
is rather under the medium size, has light complexion, brown hair, 
and blue eyes, attends properly to his business, and treats all with 
that civility which is so cheap and yet so scarce among men who oc- 
cupy official position. 

S. H. Rogers is one of the Assistant Door-Keepers, a native of Sid- 
ney Plains, Delaware. He is twenty-five years of age; is a Republican, 
attends the Presbyterian church; he is a tall, strong man, has brown 
hair and blue eyes and is very attentive to the duties of his office. 

Nathan Chamberlain, Assistant Door-Keeper, is from Jefferson 
county, occupied the same post in 1852, was a Whig, attends the 
Methodist church, is a farmer, is 44 years of age, a married man, has 
auburn hair, blue eyes, full face, and a generous nature. 



OFFICERS OF THE SENATE. 



The crowded state of our pages preclude the possibility of our do- 
ing justice to the gentlemanly officers of the Senate. For sketches in 
extenso see the "Ilion Independent," where the history of each one 
will be written elaborately. 

Samuel P. Allen, Clerk of the Senate, is the editor of the Roches- 
ter Democrat, is a practical printer, about forty years of age, a native 
of Chenango county; he is a man of sound judgment and a good po- 
litical writer. 

James Terwillegar, Journal Clerk, has been connected with the 
press ; is about thirty years of age. 

Charles R. Dayton, Engrossing Clerk, is a farmer, about thirty- 
three years of age; has been deputy before. 

Waldo M. Potter is Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant Clerk in 
reading, a practical printer, editor and lawyer, thirty-three years of 
age. 

Dewitt S. Stanford is also a Miscellaneous Clerk; has been a 
trader; is about thirty-six years of age. 

E. D. Webster, Librarian, is a printer and editor and reporter. 

Samuel R. Tuell, Sergeant -at- Arms, is freight master at the depot 
in Syracuse, is about thirty-live years of age. 

David Everett, Assistant Sergeant-at- Arms and Post Master, is 
about forty years of age. 

W. Coppernoll, Door-Keeper, is a farmer, about forty years of age. 

Nathaniel Goodwin and H. W. Shipman are Assistant Door- 
Keepers. 

N. Finnegan is a Messenger and has charge of the Senate docu- 
ments. 



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